The Jade Mountain/An Early Audience at the Palace of Light (Cock-crow, the Purple Road cold in the dawn)
AN EARLY AUDIENCE AT THE PALACE OF LIGHT
Harmonizing Secretary Chia Chih's Poem
Cock-crow, the Purple Road cold in the dawn;
Linnet songs, court roofs tinted with April;
At the Golden Gate morning bell, countless doors open,
And up the jade steps float a thousand officials
With flowery scabbards. . . . Stars have gone down;
Willows are brushing the dew from the flags—
And, alone on the Lake of the Phœnix, a guest
Is chanting too well The Song of Bright Spring.
Linnet songs, court roofs tinted with April;
At the Golden Gate morning bell, countless doors open,
And up the jade steps float a thousand officials
With flowery scabbards. . . . Stars have gone down;
Willows are brushing the dew from the flags—
And, alone on the Lake of the Phœnix, a guest
Is chanting too well The Song of Bright Spring.
(9, 9a)