The throned one sought talent, calling on exiled subjects
yet Jia Sheng’s talented airs clashed all the more jarringly.
How woeful, to be willed a bare seat close at dead of night
then asked only about gods and ghosts instead of good folk.

Original Text
宣室求贤访逐臣，贾生才调更无伦。
可怜夜半虚前席，不问苍生问鬼神。

Translator’s Notes
This poem speaks of Jia Yi, his initial exile, and the reason he was summoned back from exile.