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About Li Po

Timeline (701 - 762)

Li Po, Li Po poetry, Taoist, Taoist poetry, poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

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English version by
Rewi Alley

Original Language
Chinese

Alone and Drinking Under the Moon

Themes

Garden

Lotus

Moon

Rose

Spring Blossom

Recommended Books

	Endless River: Li Po and Tu Fu: A Friendship in Poetry, Translated by Sam Hamill
	The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell
	Li Pai: 200 Selected Poems, Translated by Rewi Alley
	Li Po and Tu Fu: Poems, Translated by Arthur Cooper
	The Poetry of Zen: (Shambhalla Library), Edited by Sam Hamill / Edited by J. P. Seaton

Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

-- from Li Pai: 200 Selected Poems, Translated by Rewi Alley

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.