the drunk poet

Because all things Chinese are famous today, I remembered being quite amazed in my comparative literature class while a professor was teaching us about a great Chinese poet. His name was Li Po.

Li Po is best known for the extravagant imagination and striking Taoist imagery in his poetry. But what interests me more is his great love for liquor (though I learned sooner that this isn’t so strange for a poet). There were many legends about the man, especially his artistic skills. It was said that he composed poems incredibly fast and with zero errors. His best poems speak of nature, friendship, and his love of wine. Our professor said, if I remember it correctly, that Li Po liked being drunk because it is then that he feels truly free. A bit true, I might say. One of his more famous poems is Drinking Alone by Moonlight:

    A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;
    I drink alone, for no friend is near.
    Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,
    For her, with my shadow, will make three people.

    The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;
    Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.
    Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave
    I must make merry before the Spring is spent.

    To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;
    In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks.
    While we were sober, three shared the fun;
    Now we are drunk, each goes their way.
    May we long share our eternal friendship,
    And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky.

I remembered enjoying classes on Asian literature compared to the Old English ones, probably because of the similar heritage that I can relate to. Unfortunately, some of them already slipped my memory; I probably need to brush up on them again (instead of doing atro phex reviews). Asian literature is a good read. Some are characterized with seeming simplicity (like the Japanese haiku), yet with timelessness. Maybe if I get drunk, I could create one. What do you think? haha.