Matching the Rhymes of the Sanhojeong Pavilion Peony Poems Composed by Various Gentlemen (次韻諸君所賦山呼亭牡丹)次韻諸君所賦山呼亭牡丹
內殿山呼亭。有牡丹盛開。賦之者多矣。幾至百首。予亦聞之。次韻和成九首。奉寄殿主內道場天其僧統。
At Sanhojeong Pavilion (山呼亭) in the inner palace the peonies were in full bloom, and so many composed poems on them that they came to nearly a hundred. Hearing of it, I too matched the rhymes and made nine poems, which I respectfully send to the master of the hall, Monastic Director Cheongi (天其僧統) of the inner chapel.
Interlinear notes 2
幷序
The preface is appended as well.
一時名士大夫皆賦之。
All the renowned scholars and officials of the day composed on it.
三月千花鬪白丹。滿城香轂擁街欄。那知禁殿無雙艶。只許詩仙第一看。露重尙憐啼怨淚。日炎深恐損粧顔。托根幸是僧棲地。折獻何妨佛亦觀。
In the third month a thousand flowers vie in white and red, and fragrant carriages filled the city, ringing the railings along the streets. Who could have known that the palace's peerless beauty would be shown first to the poet-immortal alone? The dew hangs heavy, and its resentful tears, as if weeping, are lovely; the sun is hot, and I worry deeply that its made-up face will be spoiled. Happily the ground it has rooted in is land where monks dwell, so what harm if it be plucked and offered up for the Buddha to see?
花葉相依映碧丹。香風披拂玉階欄。莫嫌西子芳魂在。未害支郞道眼看。卯酒十分醺滿臉。燕脂一顆抺渾顔。等閑蜂蝶應欺我。虛度靑春尙未觀。
Flower and leaf lean on each other, shining green and red, and a fragrant wind blows scattering over the jade-step railing. Do not shun it for housing the flowerlike soul of Xi Shi (西施); there is no harm in viewing it with the Way-trained eye of Zhi Daolin (支道林). The morning wine has risen full and flooded its cheeks, and a whole lump of rouge is spread over its face. The heedless bees and butterflies must be laughing at me, for I have let the green spring pass in vain and have not yet seen it.
年年依舊臉猶丹。堪笑王郞係檻欄。好殿百般花色發。何殊萬喚妓兒看。紅酥葩上微留捻。綠玉叢間半翳顔。莫學登伽侵戒體。高僧已入定中觀。
Year after year, as of old, its cheeks are still red, which makes Master Wang (王郞), who said it was bound to the railing, laughable. In the fine hall every hue of flower has opened, and how does it differ from calling up courtesan girls ten thousand times? On the red, soft petals a pinch-mark faintly remains, and among the green-jade clusters it half hides its face. Do not learn from Matanga (摩登伽), who violated a body bound by the precepts: the eminent monk is already in meditation, looking on.
Interlinear notes 1
王軒詠牡丹詩云。芳華日已盛。檻欄豈長存。
Wang Xuan's (王軒) poem "The Peony" says, "Its bloom by day is already at its height, but how should even the railing long remain?"
委曲誰裁繡萼丹。畏人攀折已施欄。欲將繪句彫章狀。細撥重葩複蘂看。早是花王元少敵。獨於天子要承顔。果能副爾芳心望。玉色時時許特觀。
Fold upon fold — who cut out these embroidered red calyxes? Fearing that people would seize and break them, a railing has already been set round. To draw its likeness in painterly lines and carven writing, I part the layered blossoms and doubled stamens and look closely. Being by nature the king of flowers, it has from the first few rivals, and would offer up its face to the Son of Heaven alone. If indeed the hope of your flowerlike heart can be met, the jadelike royal countenance will now and then grant you a special viewing.
經年養得色深丹。可喜枝齊文許欄。縱有畫工描未似。須呼國色較相看。嬌多似吐玲瓏語。眠重猶餘媚嫵顔。遙挹風流心已醉。情鍾如我不須觀。嫵
Tended through the years, its color has deepened to crimson, and I am glad the branches match the railing so evenly. Even were there a painter, he could not draw its likeness, so one must surely call the kingdom's beauty and set her beside it. So charming beyond measure that it seems about to utter limpid words, and though drowsiness hangs heavy, a coaxing face still remains. Even sipping its elegance from afar, my heart is already drunk, so one whose feeling is poured out as mine is need not even see it.
Interlinear notes 1
文許欄 — taking this for a place where the base text's characters are broken, it has been read so that the lines hang together. This is a place to collate against another edition. — translator
宋紫姚黃豈及丹。可憐妃子醉憑欄。問渠若是留情待。雖老猶堪拭眼看。映沼自成臨鏡笑。隈林還作隔帷顔。沈香態度今如在。須喚花甎舊客觀。
Neither the Song family's purple nor the Yao family's yellow can match this red; how lovely — as if Yang Guifei (楊貴妃), drunk, were leaning on the railing. I ask: if you wait with such feeling as this, then though I am old, it is still worth washing my eyes to look. Mirrored in the pond, it becomes of itself a face smiling before a glass; leaning on the grove, it becomes again a face beyond the curtain. The bearing of Chenxiang Pavilion (沈香亭) seems to be here still, so one must call the old traveler who trod the flowered bricks to come and see.
薄薄纖羅厚染丹。千紅羞澁定隈欄。細思天巧那輕折。但護仙姿約重看。爲被玉皇迴笑面。苦遭宮女妬嬌顔。白頭猶有風情在。却問明年儻可觀。
On the thinnest, finest silk a deep red dye has been laid, and every red flower hides in shame at the corner of the railing. Pondering heaven's handiwork, how should one pluck it lightly? I only keep its immortal bearing safe and look to see it again. Having become the one on whom the Jade Emperor (玉皇) turned a smiling face, it suffers the palace women's envy of its lovely face. Even with white hair some feeling for beauty remains in me, and so I ask instead: shall I be able to see it next year too?
Interlinear notes 1
樂天詩。蕙慘隈攔避。
A poem by Bai Letian (白樂天) says, "The hyecho grass, wretched, retreats to the corner of the railing."
願使花含不死丹。萬春長擁玉宸欄。紫葩那與紅葩敵。新殿休論舊殿看。好事風謀供舞態。無情雨自退酡顔。地親上苑花姚魏。正合潛公眼底觀。
I would have the flower hold in its mouth the elixir that does not die, and for ten thousand springs long embrace the palace railing. How should the purple flower stand against the red? Do not set the new hall beside the old one and compare them. The meddlesome wind makes it take a dancing pose, and the heartless rain of itself makes its red face withdraw. The ground is near the Shanglin Park, and these are flowers like the Yaohuang and the Weizi, fit indeed to be set and viewed beneath Master Jam's (潛公) eye.
Interlinear notes 1
舊京山呼。有紫牡丹。予甞賦之。
At Sanhojeong in the old capital there was a purple peony, and I composed on it long ago.
天愛嬌姿過與丹。錦房霞萼混彤欄。身如未遽爲鸎去。夢亦何妨化蝶看。若得暫明儒老眼。不須更較貴妃顔。我衰堪賦淸平調。無路親陪御幸觀。
Heaven, loving its lovely form, gave it red beyond measure, and its silken chambers and sunset-like calyxes mingle with the red railing. If my body cannot at once become an oriole and fly there, what harm in becoming a butterfly in a dream? If it could brighten an old scholar's eyes even for a moment, there would be no need to compare it again with Yang Guifei's face. Worn as I am, I could still compose a "Qingping Tune" (淸平調), but I have no way to attend the royal progress and see it.