Classic Poem

Twelve turns of the rail on walls of emerald:
A sea-beast's horn repels the dust, a jade repels the cold
Letters from Mount Langyuan have cranes for messengers,
On Lady's couch a hen-phoenix perches in every tree
The stars which sank to the bottom of the sea show up at the window:
The rain has passed where the River rises, far off you sit watching.
It the pearl of dawn should shine and never leave its place,
All life long we shall gaze in the crystal dish.

To glimpse her shadow, to hear her voice, is to love her.
On the pool of jade the lotus leaves spread out across the water.
Unless you meet Xiao Shi with his flute, do not turn your head:
Do not look on Hong Ya, nor ever touch his shoulder.
The purple phoenix strikes a pose with the pendant of Chu in its beak:
The crimson scales dance wildly to the plucked strings on the river
Prince O despairs of his night on the boat,
And sleeps alone by the lighted censer beneath the embroidered quilts.

On the Seventh Night she came at the time appointed
The bamboo screens of the inner chamber have never since lifted.
On the jade wheel where the hare watches the dark begins to grow,
The coral in the iron net has still to put forth branches
I have studied magic, can halt the retreat of day:
I have fetched phoenix papers and written down my love.
The Tale of the Emperor Wu is a plain witness:
Never doubt that the world of men can share this knowledge.