The Jade Mountain/Orchid and Orange

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ORCHID AND ORANGE
(A Plea for Official Preferment)
I

Tender orchid-leaves in spring
And cinnamon-blossoms bright in autumn
Are as self-contained as life is,
Which conforms them to the seasons.
 ​Yet why will you think that a forest-hermit,
Allured by sweet winds and contented with beauty,
Would no more ask to; be transplanted
Than would any other natural flower?

II

Here, south of the Yang-tsze, grows a red orange-tree.
All winter long its leaves are green,
Not because of a warmer soil,
But because its nature is used to the cold.
Though it might serve your honourable guests,
You leave it here, far below mountain and river;
Circumstance governs destiny.
Cause and effect are an infinite cycle.
You plant your peach-trees and your plums,
You forget the shade from this other tree.

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