On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying,
and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.

Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my
dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.

That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to
me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.

I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this
perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.

FIRST LOOK AT TITLE: Seeing the word Lotus, I think about a flower's beauty.

PARAPHRASING:
stanza 1: A man doesn't appreciate the true beauty of a lotus when it bloomed.
stanza 2: The man smells the scent of the flower in the wind and feels sadness.
stanza 3: The smell of the flower evokes passion in the speaker, the smell represents the summer.
stanza 4: The smell was not outside like the speaker originally thought, but rather within him.

ATTITUDE/TONE: passion, admiration

SHIFTS: There is a shift from the first stanza to the second stanza, because the first stanza discusses how the man is unappreciative of the beauty of the lotus, and the following stanzas show his belated recognition of the lotus's allure.

TITLE: The lotus is a symbol of quiet beauty, one that must be studied at length and taken care of gently before one can begin to appreciate the splendor of the flower itself.
THEME: If you take the time to find beauty in the world, you will not only find it externally, but within yourself.