Over the years, many have pitied the tree's fate, and poets from Bai Juyi of the high Tang to Yang Wanli of the Southern Song have expressed sentiments like: "Pity the lonely osmanthus in the far heavens / Why were not two trees planted in the moon?"
歷來疼惜那桂樹的有心人，從盛唐白居易到南宋楊萬里，都有「遙憐天上桂花孤，月中何不種兩株？」