Li Bai (701–762), also known as Li Po, was a Chinese poet living during the Tang Dynasty.
登金陵凤凰台[1]
凤凰台上凤凰游，
凤去台空江自流。
吴宫[2]花草埋幽径，
晋代衣冠[3]成古丘。
三山[4]半落青天外，
二水[5]中分白鹭洲。
总为浮云能蔽日[6]，
长安[7]不见使人愁。
《登金陵凤凰台》是李白不多的七律中传诵最广的一首。凤凰形如孔雀，凤的出现表示祥瑞。现在凤去台空，引起了诗人怅然若失的感觉。第三、四句怀古：东吴和东晋都建都金陵，吴国的繁华宫苑只剩下了废墟小径，晋代的风流人物也进入了坟墓，令人顿生兴衰之感。第五、六句写景：三山半隐半现，若有若无，白鹭洲却把滔滔长江一分为二。这两句气势壮丽，对仗工整，是难得的佳句。最后两句抒怀：浮云蔽日暗示奸佞当道，皇帝受到蒙蔽，使自己报国无门。这样把典故、景物、感受交织在一起，抒发了诗人忧国忧时的怀抱，意旨深远。
注释：
[1]凤凰台：在金陵凤凰山上。
[2]吴宫：指三国时孙吴于金陵建都筑宫。
[3]衣冠：原指衣服和礼帽，这里借指世族士绅、达官贵人、社会名流。
[4]三山：山名，在金陵西南长江边上，三峰并列，南北相连。
[5]二水：指秦淮河流经南京后，西入长江，被横截其间的白鹭洲分为二支。
[6]浮云蔽日：比喻谗臣当道，障蔽贤良。
[7]长安：这里指代朝廷和皇帝。
On Phoenix Terrace at Jinling[1]
On Phoenix Terrace once phoenixes came to sing,
The birds are gone but still roll on the river’s waves.
The ruined palace’s buried’neath the weeds in spring;
The ancient sages in caps and gowns all lie in graves.
The three-peak’d mountain is half lost in azure sky;
The two-fork’d stream by Egret Isle is kept apart.
As floating clouds can veil the bright sun from the eye,
Imperial Court now out of sight saddens my heart.
注释：
[1]Present-day Nanjing,capital of Jiangsu Province.
“Climbing the Phoenix Tower in Nanjing” is the most widely circulated of Li Bai’s few seven-character regulated verses. The phoenix is shaped like a peacock, and its appearance indicates auspiciousness. Now that the phoenix has left, the tower is empty, which makes the poet feel lost. The third and fourth sentences are nostalgic: both the Eastern Wu and the Eastern Jin Dynasty built their capitals in Nanjing, and only the ruins of the prosperous palaces of the Wu Kingdom remained, and the famous figures of the Jin Dynasty also went to the grave, which makes people feel the rise and fall. The fifth and sixth sentences describe the scenery: the three mountains are half hidden and half visible, and the Egret Island divides the surging Yangtze River into two. These two sentences are magnificent and well-balanced, and are rare and good sentences. The last two sentences express his feelings: the floating clouds covering the sun imply that the treacherous people are in power, and the emperor is deceived, making it impossible for him to serve his country. In this way, allusions, scenery, and feelings are interwoven together to express the poet’s worries about the country and the times, with a profound meaning.
