I have been listening to a series of lectures called, “The History of World Literature” recently. It has been very interesting. In the lectures, I came across this ancient Chinese poem.
Drinking Alone Under the Moon
By Li Bai (761 to 762 AD)
This translation by Joan Derbyshire
Among the flowers with wine beneath the sky
Alone I drink – no friend or kin, just me.
I raise my cup to toast the moon on high.
That’s two of us; my shadow makes it three.
Alas, the poor moon knows not wine’s
delight.
My shadow follows like a living thing.
At last with moon and shadow I unite
In joyful bond, to seize the last of
spring.
I sing: it sets the moon to rock in time.
I dance: my shadow cannot hold its place.
Sober, we share companionship sublime;
Drunk at last, we drift apart in space –
Lost to worldly things, until some day
We’ll meet again, beyond the Milky Way.
*
This poem reminds me of an argument I once had with my Australian flatmate at the time, Adam. We were coming back home after a night out, and we were both a little drunk. Adam stripped off his shirt in the cold night air, enjoying the moonlight on his skin.
“Take your shirt off! He commanded enthusiastically.
“No, I don’t want to. We’ll annoy the neighbors.”
“Don’t be so British,” he said. “Be like a pagan and dance under the moonlight!”
“Adam, I have work in the morning,” I said.
Adam then stalked off to dance in the moonlight without me. Sometimes I wish I had a more romantic soul.
Vocabulary:
one’s kin – a slightly old-fashioned word,
meaning one’s family and extended relations (eg. “Many of my kin still live in
Scotland.”)
to toast someone – to raise a glass,
usually containing an alcoholic drink, to show respect to someone (eg. “The
bride and groom were toasted at the wedding reception.”)
to be sublime – of very great excellence or
beauty (eg. “Bach’s music is sublime.”)
a pagan – a person who follows a pre-Christian religion, or a religion that is not one of the major world religions (eg. “Some pagans worship the sun or the moon.”)
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