Seven Poems by Li Po. One of China’s most celebrated poets, Li Po (701-762 C.E.) belongs to earth in the most profound way, for he is free of attachments to self, and that allows him to blend easily into a weave of identification with earth’s process of change: that spontaneous burgeoning forth of the ten thousand things. Li Po’s poems are suffused with the wonder of being part of this process. Their spontaneous movement enacts this identification, this belonging to earth in the fundamental sense of belonging to its processes. And at the same time, the poems are always rooted in a profound stillness, a stillness often found in his more meditative poems. These poems are excerpted from The Selected Poems of Li Po and Classical Chinese Poetry: An Anthology.
They are reprinted by permission. Read poems by Wang An-shih and Wang Wei, translated by David Hinton, also appearing in this series. Wandering Up Ample-Gauze Creek on a Spring Day At the canyon’s mouth, I’m singing. Reverence-Pavilion Mountain, Sitting Alone. Tang poetry. Traditional illustration and calligraphy of a famous poem (Chinese: 山行 pinyin: Shān Xíng) by poet (Chinese: 杜牧 pinyin: Dù Mù). Tang Dynasty. Tang poetry (traditional Chinese: 唐詩; simplified Chinese: 唐诗; pinyin: Táng shī) refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 - June 4, 907, including the 690-705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered as the Golden Age of Chinese poetry.
According to the Quantangshi anthology created under the Kangxi emperor of the Qing Dynasty, there were almost 50,000 Tang poems written by over 2,200 authors.[1] During the Tang Dynasty, poetry continued to be an important part of social life at all levels of society. Scholars were required to master poetry for the civil service exams, but the art was theoretically available to everyone.[2] This led to a large record of poetry and poets, a partial record of which survives today. History of Tang poetry[edit] Li Bai drinking alone (with the moon, his shadow, & 43 translators) | Clattery MacHinery on Poetry. The Tang poet Li Bai–a.k.a. Li Po, Li Bo and the Poet Immortal–left us over 1,000 poems. Besides these, he is also known by the way it is said he died. He supposedly drowned drunk, trying to embrace the moon’s reflection in the Yangtze River.
Below are 41 English translations (from 43 translators (and counting)) to one of his three poems most commonly titled with some variation of “Drinking Alone in the Moonlight” or “ Drinking Alone with the Moon .” I have ordered them in rough chronological order, and put the date of each translation, or my best approximation, before it. If you know I am wrong about a date (or anything else, for that matter), please let me know and I will make the correction. by 李 白 (Li Bai) (701-762) 花間一壺酒 獨酌無相親 舉杯邀明月 對影成三人 月既不解飲 影徒隨我身 暫伴月將影 行樂須及春 我歌月徘徊 我舞影零亂 醒時同交歡 醉後各分散 永結無情遊 相期邈雲漢 tr Herbert A.
Tr W.A.P.Martin ~1900? Rather than to drink alone, I’ll make bold to ask the moon To condescend to lend her face The hour and the scene to grace. tr W.J.B.Fletcher, 1919(?)