Member Poem

A Talk with Liu

 
Bai Juyi (772 – 846)
 
 
The fresh rice wine is fragrant, bubbling green,
A fire beneath my small red pot of clay.
Now night has come, the sky is filled with snow—
So, would you have a cup with me and stay?
 
 

Chinese	Pronunciation
問劉十九	Wèn Liú Shí Jiǔ
白居易	Bái Jūyì
綠蟻新醅酒	Lǜ yǐ xīn pēi jiǔ
紅泥小火爐	Hóng ní xiǎo huǒ lú
晚來天欲雪	Wǎn lái tiān yù xuě
能飲一杯無	Néng yǐn yī bēi wú

 
 
Transliteration and Notes
 
Ask Liu Ten Nine
 
Green ants fresh brewed wine
Red clay small fire stove
Night comes sky desires snow
Can drink a cup no?
 
“Ten Nine” = nineteen. The title means “asking Liu nineteen questions.” “Green ants” = the rice wine is freshly brewed, so there is still a layer of little green bubbles on top. “Desires snow” = it looks like it will snow. “Can drink” = “can you stay and drink with me?”
 
Bai Juyi wrote this poem in his later years when he was living in seclusion. He was visited by his friend, Liu Shijiu, a scholar in Songyang. Because the wine was fresh and unfiltered, it had small bubbles, slightly green in color, small as an ant. A snowstorm is coming, and Bai is enjoying the conversation and wants his friend to stay, so he invites him for a cup.