Harmony turned to jarring discord

Li Bai's response to civil war never mentions the war

Phoenix Podium in Jinling
Li Bai

A phoenix danced upon a hill 
So Phoenix Podium was built 
Though phoenixes have disappeared
The river still slides by 

The palace gardens laid by Wu 
Are secret shady hollows now 
The famous tomb of Jin’s great scribe
Is just an old hillock 

Three Peak Ridge lies half this side
And half beyond the purple sky
The egrets’ sandbar splits the flow 
Of one stream in two 

I never see the sun’s gold light 
For shiftless clouds are in the way
For now Chang’an is out of sight, 
Disquiet, disturbance, dismay

李白  登金陵凤凰台
凤凰台上凤凰游，凤去台空江自流。
吴宫花草埋幽径，晋代衣冠成古丘。
三山半落青天外，二水中分白鹭洲。
总为浮云能蔽日，长安不见使人愁。 

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The An Lushan rebellion was in full swing, and Li Bai had fled the capital, Chang'an, for the southern city of Jinling (modern Nanjing). This is a great companion piece to the Cui Hao poem a few days ago. Like Cui Hao’s Yellow Crane Tower, Phoenix Podium starts with a building named after a mythological creature. The fact that the mythic crane and phoenix are nowhere to be seen sets the tone of disappointment. But Cui Hao only had his loneliness as a traveller to complain about. Li Bai was mourning the loss of his country. The emperor/phoenix had left the building; all he left behind was a shell with a pretty name. In response, Li wrote a poem that on the surface meets all of the metrical and content standards, and yet sounds utterly discordant and wretched.

Phoenix Podium was a hill by the river, where legend has it that three phoenixes appeared.

Wu was the name of the country established south of the Yangtze after the breakup of the Han Dynasty in 220. Its rulers built a palace at Jinling.

Jin was the name of another dynasty that had ruled from Jinling. Its great scribe was Guo Pu, who was buried at the capital. For a while his grave was kept as an important historical site, but now it was abandoned.

Three Peak Ridge is a hill on the outskirts of Jinling.