Mounting Phoenix Terrace at Jin Ling (A lyric in metaphors-translation)

by Li Bai(701 - 762)

The Phoenix Terrace needs to be visited by phoenixes.

Phoenixes are gone and the terrace deserted.

But the river rolls down all the same.

Fragrant flowers and grasses of ancient palaces,

Are buried beneath lonely paths,

And those in official robes,

Lie in their miserable graves.

The three mountains are half-hidden behind a nearer one;

A stream forks into two with an islet in-between.

It's a pity that I can't see the capital,

For clouds can shade off the sunlight.