Ascending the Tower
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
万方多难此登临。
锦江春色来天地，
玉垒浮云变古今。
北极朝廷终不改，
西山寇盗莫相侵。
可怜后主还祠庙，
日暮聊为梁甫吟。
English translation
Blossoms near the high tower wound the traveler's heart, trouble on every side, and here I climb.
The spring colors of the Jin River come from heaven and earth, the drifting clouds over Yulei change past and present.
The court at the pole star shall never be overthrown, you bandits of the western hills, do not press in.
Pitiful that the Later Lord still keeps his temple, at sunset I chant, for a while, the Liangfu Song.
Meaning
Flowers press close to the high tower; far from home, the sight wounds me. At this hour when the whole land suffers many troubles, I climb the tower to look abroad.
The spring colours along the Brocade River surge in from every side; the drifting clouds over Mount Yulei, through all past and present, take a thousand shapes and are forever changing.
The imperial court, like the pole star, will not in the end be moved; you bandits of Tubo on the western hills, do not come to invade.
Alas that a benighted prince like Liu Shan, the Later Lord of Shu, still receives sacrifice in his temple; at dusk I too will chant the Liangfu Song.
Background
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This poem was written at Chengdu in the spring of 764, the second year of the Guangde era of Emperor Daizong of Tang, when the poet had been sojourning in Sichuan for five years. One day in late spring he climbed a tower to gaze into the distance and, moved by what he saw, composed this poem.