In Book 9 of the Analects, the flowers of the asian plum (Pound translates 'prunus japonica') summon thoughts of a sweetheart far away. So the unripe plums in "The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter" can be both an archetypal symbol of innocent, inexperienced love as well as a traditional emblem of separation and desire. As symbol of both innocence and experience, the plum is an apt correlative for girl-becoming-woman. Tim Romano Hiroko Uno wrote: > [...] > > According to Kumiko Kakehi, a Japanese scholar of Chinese ancient poetry, > the line with "blue plum" refers to another ancient Chinese poem > "Hyo-Yu-Bai" in Shikyo (I am sorry these are in Japanese > pronunciation), in > which very young people express their first pure love with unripe blue > plums.