Immortal in the Mortal World: Poems

This poem portrays an immortal who has transcended the mortal world yet remains trapped by longing. It opens with "jade towers above a sea of clouds" and "a blue phoenix and a crane-feather cloak," sketching the loneliness of the immortal realm. It then looks back on a tender first meeting in the mortal world, with details such as pinning a flower in one's hair by the bridge, playing a zither by a bamboo door, and sheltering from rain in a mountain pavilion. The beauty of spring only heightens the chill of the present.