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Li Po (701-762 / Chu / Kazakhstan)
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Poems by Li Po : 30 / 112
Drinking Alone
I take my wine jug out among the flowers
to drink alone, without friends.
I raise my cup to entice the moon.
That, and my shadow, makes us three.
But the moon doesn't drink,
and my shadow silently follows.
I will travel with moon and shadow,
happy to the end of spring.
When I sing, the moon dances.
When I dance, my shadow dances, too.
We share life's joys when sober.
Drunk, each goes a separate way.
Constant friends, although we wander,
we'll meet again in the Milky Way.
Li T'ai-po
tr. Hamil
Li Po
Submitted: Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Read poems about / on: moon, travel, dance, spring, happy, alone, life, joy, flower, friend
Poems by Li Po : 30 / 112
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A great discovery for me.
Thank you LiPo though you lived so long ago.
Joe Hughes on Poemhunter and at joehughes.org.uk
When the soul selects her own society, solitude turns into multitude......it's very beautiful......
i remember in college when i found out about lipo, i collected his poems, i remember this one because i think it is funny, i love the poem and the poet. He is immortal.
Li Po chooses beautiful natural surroundings and sits among flowers to drink and contemplate long before a generation of flower power take this conception to symbolize a desire for peace and love not war. Shadow and moon are a powerful influence at night in settings of unique interactive meditation. A challenging theme for an artists charcoal oils or a poets pen.
'We share life's joys when sober.
Drunk, each goes a separate way.'
True often when drinking companions are few, but drunken football or rugby teams, worse still when staunch fans of major domestic or international teams, get out of control; suddenly the energy of an earthquake or title wave can be unleashed with amazing force in confined places. Alcohol and friends are poetry of enticing potential.
congrats on making poem of the day, i liked it so i voted :)
Wine effect with the influence of Moon though taken alone will surely make one meet Moon, shadow and self in the Milky Way! A wise way to enjoy with Nature!
Finding a reason for drinking is the keyword. Some drink for drunkenness, while some wine and flowers beauty, and a silent friend, we find a reason. Seeking a beauty, in the flowing world of wines intoxication. Elevated, insightful things appear. BUT, to lie in an alleyway with an empty bottle - WELL LI PO WAS RIGHT.
It is a terrible shame that thier are not
hundreds of these simple thoughts
of friend ship inside this one head..iip
on paper...
beautiful...............
Prissy comments about this poem in English translation having nothing to offer an expert reader and poet like Straw leaves me in dismay and feigned sorrow! What a bleeding pity for us all! He prefers classical music in the raw to the diluted versions on his iPod, mercy me! God help us, but I'll take a drunken Chinese poet any time to a pretentious wannabe nattering on about communication and translation and all that!