Matching the Rhymes of Chief Minister Yi's Reply on the Sanhojeong Pavilion Peonies, Which He Sent to Me (次韻李平章和山呼亭牡丹見寄)次韻李平章和山呼亭牡丹見寄
方疑猩血灑枝丹。還有濃香暗襲欄。着意君能傳色肖。無情花亦點頭看。風嫌宿醉微吹面。露促晨粧早洗顔。若使解言能報導。但期丞相日來觀。
Just now it is red as if an orangutan's blood had been sprinkled on the branches, and instead its heavy fragrance comes stealing over the railing. You set your mind to it and rendered its color to the life, so that even the heartless flower nods its head and looks. The wind, disliking last night's wine, blows lightly on its face, and the dew, urging on its dawn toilet, washes its face early. If it knew how to speak and could make itself known, it would wish only that the chancellor come and see it every day.
Interlinear notes 2
仁植
This is Insik (仁植).
解言 — throughout this book 解語 has been rendered "to understand speech," but since "make known" follows here, it has been read as "to know how to speak." — translator
月色應疑桂色丹。殷勤護影上巍欄。初誰濃染辰砂出。又孰輕裁蜀錦看。幾許詞人鸎與唱。不邀狂叟蝶胡顔。細思我已微仙分。咫尺山呼尙未觀。
The moonlight makes one wonder if the cassia's hue is red, and quietly keeping its shadow, it climbs the high railing. Who first dyed cinnabar (辰砂) so deeply, and who again cut the silk of Shu so lightly? So many poets are singing along with the orioles, yet none calls the mad old man — what face has the butterfly? Pondering it, I have already little share in the immortals' lot, and have not yet seen Sanhojeong, though it is a step away.
日出初憐玄映丹。日高還覆錦遮欄。瑞香宜作雲毬見。絶艶聊將綉帶看。只是天心鍾與色。那因世眼更添顔。花無分別人猶惑。未必嗔吾最後觀。
At sunrise red shines through the dark and is lovely, and when the sun is high, silk is laid over again to screen the railing. Its auspicious fragrance is rightly seen as the ungu (雲毬), and its surpassing beauty I view simply as the sudae (綉帶). It is only heaven's heart that gathered that color for it; why should it dress its face further for the world's gaze? The flower makes no distinctions, yet people are bewitched instead, so I shall not necessarily be angry at being the last to see it.
Interlinear notes 1
雲毬綉帶。皆牡丹名。
Ungu and sudae are both names for the peony.
丹禁尤宜色尙丹。種花仍更設赬欄。赭袍天子時容賞。紅袖宮娥痛欲看。已是帝尊無與配。又將誰媚屢迴顔。翻階芍藥吟應慣。移向西垣特地觀。
In the red palace a red color is all the more fitting, so they planted the flower and set a red railing round it too. The Son of Heaven in his red dragon robe sometimes gladly views it, and the red-sleeved palace women long achingly to see it. Already high as a sovereign, with nothing to match it, for whom else would it turn its face so often to coax? The herbaceous peonies brimming at the steps may be familiar to sing of, but I shall move to the western office and view them specially.