The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Lee, Li-young. "From Blossoms." https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43012/from-blossoms.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

“From Blossoms” is a free verse poem split into four stanzas, written by Chinese-American poet Li-young Lee. As a poem included in his debut collection Rose in 1986, “From Blossoms” can be said to be representative of Lee’s early style and abiding thematic concerns. Lee’s poetry, influenced by Chinese classical poets, frequently invokes natural imagery from the world around him to illuminate universal truths about everyday life. He often begins in the smallness of a personal reminiscence or experience, linking it to an emotion or affect that he imbues with an almost mystical resonance. Lee has spoken before about the sacredness of poetry, and how, in his view, poetry and life form part of a transcendent totality.

“From Blossoms” aligns neatly with those preoccupations of Lee’s. Inspired by the seemingly ordinary and mundane experience of eating peaches at a roadside corner, the speaker in the poem is reminded of where the fruit comes from. He launches into descriptions of the blossoms and trees that preceded the peach and made it possible. From this small moment, the speaker segues into a more metaphysical meditation on the presence of joy in life, feeling at one with the natural world around him and savoring the attendant sense of wonder. In tracking the life cycle of the peach, the speaker also emphasizes the numerous connections between the human and natural worlds.