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Early Morning Court at Daming Palace, Respectfully Matching Middle Secretary Jia Zhi’s Poem, Cen Can
Cocks crow—upon the purple lanes, the light of dawn is cold.
Orioles sing—within the capital, spring’s at its limit.
From golden towers, the daybreak bells throw wide ten-thousand doors.
On the jade stairs, Immortal Arms hold back a thousand officials—
The flowers welcome swords and belt-chains—stars begin to fall—
The willows shake at feathered banners—dew is not yet dry.
There’s only this: a visitor above Paired-Phoenix Pool,
His “Sunny Spring” a song that’s hard for anyone to match.
奉和中书舍人贾至早朝大明宫
鸡鸣紫陌曙光寒，
莺啭皇州春色阑。
金阙晓钟开万户，
玉阶仙仗拥千官。
花迎剑佩星初落，
柳拂旌旗露未乾。
独有凤凰池上客，
阳春一曲和皆难。
As a reminder, since it’s been two years since I translated one of these, the “matching” game is responding to someone else’s poem, usually while using the same rhyme-words. In this case, though, Cen uses different rhymes and so is only “matching” the content, not the form. (As another reminder, we last saw Cen in #99, giving Du Fu a discrete warning about how to court official prudently. As it happens, Du Fu also “matched” the same poem.)
The Immortal Arms are the ceremonial pole-arms of the imperial guard, which block the procession of officials until the emperor is ready to start the audience. The banners carried by the imperial guard were decorated with kingfisher feathers. The “visitor” is Jia Zhi, and “Sunny Spring” is the name of an ancient song his poem is being flatteringly compared to.
—L.
Cocks crow—upon the purple lanes, the light of dawn is cold.
Orioles sing—within the capital, spring’s at its limit.
From golden towers, the daybreak bells throw wide ten-thousand doors.
On the jade stairs, Immortal Arms hold back a thousand officials—
The flowers welcome swords and belt-chains—stars begin to fall—
The willows shake at feathered banners—dew is not yet dry.
There’s only this: a visitor above Paired-Phoenix Pool,
His “Sunny Spring” a song that’s hard for anyone to match.
奉和中书舍人贾至早朝大明宫
鸡鸣紫陌曙光寒，
莺啭皇州春色阑。
金阙晓钟开万户，
玉阶仙仗拥千官。
花迎剑佩星初落，
柳拂旌旗露未乾。
独有凤凰池上客，
阳春一曲和皆难。
As a reminder, since it’s been two years since I translated one of these, the “matching” game is responding to someone else’s poem, usually while using the same rhyme-words. In this case, though, Cen uses different rhymes and so is only “matching” the content, not the form. (As another reminder, we last saw Cen in #99, giving Du Fu a discrete warning about how to court official prudently. As it happens, Du Fu also “matched” the same poem.)
The Immortal Arms are the ceremonial pole-arms of the imperial guard, which block the procession of officials until the emperor is ready to start the audience. The banners carried by the imperial guard were decorated with kingfisher feathers. The “visitor” is Jia Zhi, and “Sunny Spring” is the name of an ancient song his poem is being flatteringly compared to.
—L.