History & Politics

A Message to Censor Tu Fu at His Office in the Left Court

by Ts’en Ts’an c. AD 750

Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu (1929) · From The Jade Mountain (1929)

History & Politics

Together we officials climbed vermilion steps,
To be parted by the purple walls . . .
Our procession, which entered the palace at dawn,
Leaves fragrant now at dusk with imperial incense.
. . . Grey heads may grieve for a fallen flower,
Or blue clouds envy a lilting bird;
But this reign is of heaven, nothing goes wrong,
There have been almost no petitions.

MLA

Ts’an, Ts’en. “A Message to Censor Tu Fu at His Office in the Left Court.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/tsen-tsan/4/.

Chicago

Ts’an, Ts’en. “A Message to Censor Tu Fu at His Office in the Left Court.” Translated by Witter Bynner and Kiang Kang-hu. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/tsen-tsan/4/.

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