Early Morning Court Audience
早 朝
柳 暗 百 花 明
春 深 五 风 城。
城 乌 睥 睨 晓
宫 井 辘 轳 声。
方 朔 金 门 侍
班 姬 玉 辇 迎。
仍 闻 遣 方 士
东 海 访 蓬 瀛。
Zao Chao
Liu an bai hua ming
Chun shen wu feng cheng.
Cheng wu pi ni xiao
Gong jing lu lu sheng.
Fang shuo jin men shi
Ban ji yu nian ying.
Reng wen qian fang shi
Dong hai fang peng ying.
Early Morning Court Audience
Willow trees hidden, one hundred flowers bright
Late spring in Wu Feng city.
City wall crows consider everyone and everything beneath their notice, look sideways with suspicion and contempt
Palace well, the sounds of a bucket pulley.
Fang Shuo ready to serve at the gold door
Troupe of singing girls meet the jade imperial carriage.
Still can hear the alchemists being dispatched
To the East China Sea, they gather Pengying immortality plants.
Notes:
Wu Feng: Ancient capital city of Chang’an, and present day city of Xi’an.
Fang shuo: During the Han dynasty, a palace fortune teller or diviner.
Pengying: Another name for the mythological island Penglai.