Classic Poem

1

Beneath the blossoms with a pot of wine,
No friends at hand, so I poured alone;
I raised my cup to invite the moon,
Turned to my shadow, and we became three.
Now the moon had never learned about drinking,
And my shadow had merely followed my form,
But I quickly made friends with the moon and my shadow;
To find pleasure in life, make the most of the spring.

Whenever I sang, the moon swayed with me;
Whenever I danced, my shadow went wild
Drinking, we shared our enjoyment together;
Drunk, then each went off on his own
But forever agreed on dispassionate revels,
We promised to meet in the far Milky Way.

2

Now, if Heaven didn't love wine,
There wouldn't be a Wine Star in Heaven.
And if Earth didn't love wine,
Earth shouldn't have the town of Wine Spring
But since Heaven and Earth love wine,
Loving wine is no crime with Heaven.
The light, I hear, is like a sage;
The heavy, they say, is called the worthy
If I have drunk with the sage and worthy,
What need have I to search for immortals?
Three cups and I've mastered The Way;
A jarful and I am at one with Nature.
A man can get hold of the spirit of drinking,
But no point explaining to those who abstain.

3

Third Month in the city of Xianyang,
And a thousand flowers make the day a brocade.
Who would sorrow alone in the springtime?
Faced with this you must drink straightaway.
Failure, success, and long span or short
Are fates that Creation decreed from the start,
But a cup makes life and death the same
And the ten thousand things are distinguished no more
I get drunk and lose track of Heaven and Earth;
Sinking, I go to my pillow alone
Then not to know the existence of me,
This is the pleasure highest of all.

4

I have ten million sources of sorrow,
But only three hundred cups of wine
My sorrows are many and the cups are few,
But pouring a cup keeps sorrow away.
And I know that I have the sage in my cup,
For in my cups my heart always smiles.
Go hide on Mount Shouyang, refuse the Zhou grain;
Be frequently empty and starve like Yan Hui.
And after a lifetime with no joy in drinking,
What will you do with your hollow fame?
A crab claw is the Golden Elixir;
A hill of dregs is Paradise Mountain
The thing to do is drink good wine;
Go out with the moon and get drunk on a tower.