Quatrain

Two orioles sing among the green willows, A row of white egrets ascends to the blue sky. My window frames the thousand-autumn snows of Western Mountains, My door anchors boats from Eastern Wu, a thousand miles away.

Two golden orioles trill in jade-green willows, A line of white herons climbs the azure vault. Snow-crowned peaks of ages past frame my window, At my door rest ships from lands a thousand miles east.

Du Fu wrote this during a brief period of peace after years of war and displacement. The poem celebrates the return of tranquility and prosperity. The contrast between the close-up details (birds, willows) and distant vistas (mountains, ships) shows Du Fu's mastery of perspective. The colors—yellow, green, white, blue—make this one of the most visually rich poems in Chinese literature. It's often used to teach children about imagery and composition.