WANDERING POET - RIHAKU

DRINKING ALONE BY MOONLIGHT

by Li Bo

花間一壺酒。   A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;

獨酌無相親。   I drink alone, for no friend is near.

舉杯邀明月。   Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,

對影成三人。   For he, with my shadow, will make three men.

月既不解飲。   The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;

影徒隨我身。   Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.

暫伴月將影。   Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave

行樂須及春。   I must make merry before the Spring is spent.

我歌月徘徊。   To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;

我舞影零亂。   In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks.

醒時同交歡。   While we were sober, three shared the fun;

醉後各分散。   Now we are drunk, each goes his way.

永結無情遊。   May we long share our odd, inanimate feast,

相期邈雲漢。   And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky.

translated by Arthur Waley