old chinese drawing

[virtualmac]

Hi, i bought this old drawing in Suzhou. I asked a lot of friends but no one is able To read it... Please anyone can tell me what is written? Thanks...

[skylee]

It is a poem called 白梅 (white plum flower) written by a poet called 王冕 (Wang Mian) in the Yuan Dynasty. The whole poem -

冰雪林中著此身，不同桃李混芳塵。忽然一夜清香發，散作乾坤萬里春。

Then it is followed by 九八年春修中畫 (painted by Xiuzhong in spring 98).

Very roughly, the poem praises the flowers which, unlike some other flowers, grow in the snow covered forest. And when they blossom, their fragrance brings the spring to the earth.