Written around 805, early in the long exile of
刘禹锡 at Langzhou, today's Changde in Hunan. Poets had grieved over autumn since
宋玉; he answers
自古逢秋悲寂寥，
我言秋日胜春朝 'since ancient times people grieve at autumn's loneliness, but I say an autumn day beats a spring morning', and his crane carries the poet's mood up to the blue sky.
