Seon Master Nogyu, Who Lives at Unbong, Came by Some Early-Budded Tea and Showed It to Me; I Named It Yucha (孺茶), and Since the Master Asked for a Poem I Made This for Him雲峯住老珪禪師。得早芽茶示之。予目爲孺茶。師請詩爲賦之。
人間百味貴早嘗。天肯爲人反候氣。春榮秋熟固其常。苟戾於此卽爲異。邇來俗習例好奇。天亦隨人情所嗜。故敎溪茗先春萌。抽出金芽殘雪裏。南人曾不怕髬髵。冒險衝深捫葛蘽。辛勤採摘焙成團。要趁頭番獻天子。師從何處得此品。入手先驚香撲鼻。塼爐活火試自煎。手點花甆誇色味。黏黏入口脆且柔。有如乳臭兒與稚。朱門琁戶尙未見。可恠吾師能得致。蠻童曾未識禪居。雖欲見餉何由至。是應蘂闥九重深。體貌禪英情禮備。愛惜包藏不忍啜。題封勑遣中使寄。不分人間無賴客。得嘗况又惠山水。平生長負遲暮嗟。第一來嘗唯此耳。餉名孺茶可無謝。勸公旱釀春酒旨。喫茶飮酒遣一生。來往風流從此始。
Among men all flavors are prized for being tasted early, but will heaven, for man's sake, watch the turning of the seasons instead? To flower in spring and ripen in autumn is the constant way, and whatever departs from this is simply strange. Of late the habit of the age is always to love the rare — does heaven too follow what people delight in? And so it makes the tea by the stream bud before the spring, drawing golden shoots out of the lingering snow. The people of the south fear not even fierce beasts; they brave the rough and pierce the deep, groping among the arrowroot vines. They pick and gather with hard labor and roast it into cakes to send up the first flush as an offering to the Son of Heaven. Where did the master come by this thing? Taking it in my hand, I am startled first by the scent striking my nose. Over a strong fire in a brick stove I try brewing it myself, and whisked in flower-patterned porcelain it boasts its color and savor. It comes into the mouth thick, soft and tender, just like an infant still smelling of milk. A thing not yet seen even in houses of vermilion gates and jeweled doors — strange it is that our master should have been able to get it. A boy of the south would not know where a Seon dwelling is, so even if they wished to send it, by what means would it arrive? Surely it came from Yedal (蘂闥), deep in the ninefold courts, with all the feeling and ceremony due in honoring a master of Seon: it was wrapped and treasured and he could not bear to drink it, and then it was sealed, inscribed, and sent by a palace envoy (中使). That a good-for-nothing wanderer of this world should taste it, and get the water of Huishan (惠山) besides, I never knew. All my life I have borne the sigh of growing late and old, but to taste a first flush — that has been only this once. Since it comes to me with the name Yucha, how can there be no thanks? I urge you, sir: brew your spring wine early and well. Drinking tea and drinking wine I shall see out a whole lifetime, and the elegance of our going and coming begins from here.