In Dragon Pool Palace when our lord was alive
the jeweled belts and brocade robes and the perfumed wind
but all the court officials of those days are gone
no one would understand if I told them what we did
then I meet Old Wu at White Sand Pavilion
and he pawns his robe to buy a guest wine
I ask him about the halberdiers of that earlier reign
they're hauling firewood now in these troubled times
enjoying imperial favor we watched everything
those years in attendance on cinnabar-colored clouds
the winter hunt and spring sacrifice nothing escaped us
the outings and the feasts and all that we received
taking part on moonlit nights in Bamboo Palace fasts
coming back drunk from Paling or the hot springs
the twelve-year star has gone around us twice
I haven't shared these thoughts until today with you
the sudden end of that great age fills me with regrets
what is there to say about a life of failure