I don't feel like writing a poem,
Instead, I will light the incense-burning vessel
Filled with myrrh, jasmine, and frankincense,
And the poem will grow in my heart
Like the flowers in my garden.

- student of Hafis (15th century A.D.)

Look in the perfume of flowers
and of nature for peace of mind
and joy of life.

- Wang Wei (undated)

What is this, coming up from the desert,
Like a column of smoke,
Laden with myrrh, with frankincense
And with the perfume of every exotic dust?

You are the park that puts forth
Pomegranates,
With all choice fruits;
Spikenard and saffron, calamus and
Cinnamon,
Myrrh and aloes with all the fine spices.
You are garden fountain, a well of water,
Flowing fresh from Lebanon.
Arise, north wind! Come, south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
That its perfume may spread abroad.

- The Song of Songs 3:6

The way to health is to have an aromatic bath
and a scented massage every day.

- Hippocrates

I breathe in the cool incense smoke from the metal brazier,
While thinking about a poem for my dear friend Lu Wa.
My sandalwood-hearted companion spits out plum blossoms of smoke,
Looking like the cloudy fog of the other world.
Perhaps it's the soul of my friend the old mountain man
In the smoke's dense patterns?

- Kan Po, in memoriam (undated)

Patterning metals for the articulation of smoke,
Grinding incense into powder,
Making pattern like that of seal ink or a drawing in sand,
But without using any tools, such as awls or reeds.

But rather like the crow's
What pigeon sitting on a wall could be more stupid than I?
My heart is on course, but my head is full of weeds
And the movement of my hand is thorny and difficult.

- Ting Yun (19th century A.D.)

How many are the trees on earth that bear
the scented flower and juicy fruits!
Yet, O' Sandal you are unique in possessing
Unparalleled fragrance of wood.

- Sanskrit shloka (undated)

Haru no yo (Spring Evening)
 
An ephemeral spring dream-
The plum's color
Is lost in the night.
Would it also be possible
To hide the fragrance?
 
- Kokinshu (undated)

In the center of the castle of Brahman, our own body,
There is a small shrine in the form of a lotus flower
and within can be found a small space.

We should find who dwells there and we should want to know him.
And if anyone asks, "Who is he who lives in a small shrine
in the form of a lotus flower in the center of the castle of Brahman?"

We can answer:
"The little space within the heart is as great as the universe.
The heaven and the earth are there; the sun, the moon, the stars;
fire and lightening and winds ...
For the whole universe is in Him and He dwells within our hearts."

- Chandogya Upanishad Excerpt