Replying to Jia Zhi on the Dawn Audience at Daming Palace
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
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，
柳拂旌旗露未干。
独有凤凰池上客，
阳春一曲和皆难。
English translation
Cocks crow on the purple road, the light of dawn is cold, orioles warble in the imperial city, spring is nearly spent.
The golden palace's morning bell opens ten thousand gates, by the jade steps the immortal guard surrounds a thousand officials.
Blossoms greet the swords and pendants as the stars begin to set, willows brush the banners, the dew not yet dry.
Only the guest of Phoenix Pool remains, whose song of Spring Brightness all find hard to match.
Meaning
The cock crows, and the dawn light over the capital is cold; the orioles sing sweetly, and spring in the palace is nearly over.
The palace bells announce the dawn and a thousand gates are opened, and on the jade steps the guard of honor throngs about a thousand officials.
The flowers greet the courtiers' swords as the stars of morning first set, and the banners brush the willows where the immortal's dew is not yet dry.
Only the secretaries at the Phoenix Pool — a song as lofty as 'Spring in the Snow' is hard indeed to match.
Background
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This poem was written in the spring of the first year of the Qianyuan era of Emperor Suzong of Tang (758), when Cen Shen was serving as right remonstrance officer and was a colleague of the poets Jia Zhi, Du Fu, and Wang Wei. Jia Zhi, then a drafter in the Secretariat, first wrote "An Audience at Dawn at the Great Luminous Palace, Presented to the Colleagues of the Two Departments"; Du Fu, Wang Wei, and Cen Shen all wrote matching poems, and Cen Shen's is this one.