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Paired Phoenix Terrace where the phoenix pairs arrived—
The phoenixes departed—Yangzi flows vainly on.
Wu Palace shrubs and flowers hide secluded paths.
Jin minister robes and caps wound up in ancient graves.
Santai Hill’s half-missing, blue mountains lie beyond.
Two rivers are divided by White Heron Isle.
When floating clouds are gathered, they can conceal the sun—
Chang’an cannot discern a person is depressed.
登金陵凤凰台
凤凰台上凤凰游，
凤去台空江自流。
吴宫花草埋幽径，
晋代衣冠成古邱。
三台半落青山外，
二水中分白鹭洲。
总为浮云能蔽日，
长安不见使人愁。
Li Bai is not known for his regulated verse, and this is one of his few 7-character examples. Written during the return journey from exile that was started in #269. The literal name for the terrace, which is on a hill and may actually have been a tower, is “male-phoenix female-phoenix”. Nanjing was the capital of both Wu, the southeastern of the Three Kingdoms, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Santai is the next hill over, presumably partly cut off by the current hill or maybe the terrace structure. White Heron Isle was a sandbank in the Yangzi where the Qinhuai River (which flows through Nanjing) joined it.
Commentaries note that seeing any mountains at all from Nanjing implies exceptionally clear conditions … and even so, Chang’an still can’t see you. Especially when gathered clouds of nay-sayers get in your way.
I think just about every literate culture has expressed vanitas vanitatum in insouciant, pretty ways.
---L.
The phoenixes departed—Yangzi flows vainly on.
Wu Palace shrubs and flowers hide secluded paths.
Jin minister robes and caps wound up in ancient graves.
Santai Hill’s half-missing, blue mountains lie beyond.
Two rivers are divided by White Heron Isle.
When floating clouds are gathered, they can conceal the sun—
Chang’an cannot discern a person is depressed.
登金陵凤凰台
凤凰台上凤凰游，
凤去台空江自流。
吴宫花草埋幽径，
晋代衣冠成古邱。
三台半落青山外，
二水中分白鹭洲。
总为浮云能蔽日，
长安不见使人愁。
Li Bai is not known for his regulated verse, and this is one of his few 7-character examples. Written during the return journey from exile that was started in #269. The literal name for the terrace, which is on a hill and may actually have been a tower, is “male-phoenix female-phoenix”. Nanjing was the capital of both Wu, the southeastern of the Three Kingdoms, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Santai is the next hill over, presumably partly cut off by the current hill or maybe the terrace structure. White Heron Isle was a sandbank in the Yangzi where the Qinhuai River (which flows through Nanjing) joined it.
Commentaries note that seeing any mountains at all from Nanjing implies exceptionally clear conditions … and even so, Chang’an still can’t see you. Especially when gathered clouds of nay-sayers get in your way.
I think just about every literate culture has expressed vanitas vanitatum in insouciant, pretty ways.
---L.