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Emerald Walls - Three Poems #2, Li Shangyin
Catch her shadow, hear her voice—you’re already charmed.
In the jade pool, the lotus leaves are laid out straight.
Unless you meet Xiaoshi, don’t turn your head around;
You cannot see Hongya again to tap his shoulder.
The violet phoenix is coquettish, pendant in beak;
The red fish-scales dance wildly, plucking zither strings.
Prince E was disappointed in his boat at night
And slept alone beneath embroidered quilts with incense.
二
对影闻声已可怜，
玉池荷叶正田田。
不逢萧史休回首，
莫见洪崖又拍肩。
紫凤放娇衔楚佩，
赤鳞狂舞拨湘弦。
鄂君怅望舟中夜，
绣被焚香独自眠。
The woman is in her bedroom with her lover—the phoenix (this time a female one) is her, the fish him. Xiaoshi and Hongya are historical references, both heroic comparisons to the lover, and the story about Prince E involves nostalgia for a past assignation.
---L.
In the jade pool, the lotus leaves are laid out straight.
Unless you meet Xiaoshi, don’t turn your head around;
You cannot see Hongya again to tap his shoulder.
The violet phoenix is coquettish, pendant in beak;
The red fish-scales dance wildly, plucking zither strings.
Prince E was disappointed in his boat at night
And slept alone beneath embroidered quilts with incense.
二
对影闻声已可怜，
玉池荷叶正田田。
不逢萧史休回首，
莫见洪崖又拍肩。
紫凤放娇衔楚佩，
赤鳞狂舞拨湘弦。
鄂君怅望舟中夜，
绣被焚香独自眠。
The woman is in her bedroom with her lover—the phoenix (this time a female one) is her, the fish him. Xiaoshi and Hongya are historical references, both heroic comparisons to the lover, and the story about Prince E involves nostalgia for a past assignation.
---L.
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