Two men drinking
together
where mountain flowers grow:
One cup, one cup, and again one cup.
One cup, one cup, and again one cup.
Li Po
.
.
But the things I feel when wine possesses my soul
I will never tell to those who are not drunk.
[48] Chiu-ch'uan, in Kansuh.
[49] "History of Wei Dynasty" (Life of Hsu Mo): "A drunken visitor
said, 'Clear wine I account a Saint: thick wine only a Sage. '"
[50] Rishi, Immortals.
XXIII. 9. IN THE MOUNTAINS ON A SUMMER DAY
Gently I stir a white feather fan,
With open shirt, sitting in a green wood.
I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone:
A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.
XXIII. 10. DRINKING TOGETHER IN THE MOUNTAINS[51]
[51] _Cf. _ _Little Review_, June, 1917, version by Sasaki and M.
Bodenheim.
Two men drinking together where mountain flowers grow:
One cup, one cup, and again one cup.
"Now I am drunk and would like to sleep: so please go away.
Come back to-morrow, if you feel inclined, and bring your harp
with you. "
XXIII. 10. WAKING FROM DRUNKENNESS ON A SPRING DAY
"Life in the World is but a big dream:
I will not spoil it by any labour or care. "
So saying, I was drunk all the day,
Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door.
When I woke up, I blinked at the garden lawn;
A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers.
I asked myself, had the day been wet or fine?
The Spring wind was telling the mango-bird.
Moved by its song, I soon began to sigh,
And as wine was there, I filled my own cup.
Wildly singing, I waited for the moon to rise,
When my song was over, all my senses had gone.
XXIII. 13. SELF-ABANDONMENT
I sat drinking and did not notice the dusk,
Till falling petals filled the folds of my dress.
Drunken I rose and walked to the moonlit stream;
The birds were gone, and men also few.
But the things I feel when wine possesses my soul
I will never tell to those who are not drunk.
[48] Chiu-ch'uan, in Kansuh.
[49] "History of Wei Dynasty" (Life of Hsu Mo): "A drunken visitor
said, 'Clear wine I account a Saint: thick wine only a Sage. '"
[50] Rishi, Immortals.
XXIII. 9. IN THE MOUNTAINS ON A SUMMER DAY
Gently I stir a white feather fan,
With open shirt, sitting in a green wood.
I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone:
A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.
XXIII. 10. DRINKING TOGETHER IN THE MOUNTAINS[51]
[51] _Cf. _ _Little Review_, June, 1917, version by Sasaki and M.
Bodenheim.
Two men drinking together where mountain flowers grow:
One cup, one cup, and again one cup.
"Now I am drunk and would like to sleep: so please go away.
Come back to-morrow, if you feel inclined, and bring your harp
with you. "
XXIII. 10. WAKING FROM DRUNKENNESS ON A SPRING DAY
"Life in the World is but a big dream:
I will not spoil it by any labour or care. "
So saying, I was drunk all the day,
Lying helpless at the porch in front of my door.
When I woke up, I blinked at the garden lawn;
A lonely bird was singing amid the flowers.
I asked myself, had the day been wet or fine?
The Spring wind was telling the mango-bird.
Moved by its song, I soon began to sigh,
And as wine was there, I filled my own cup.
Wildly singing, I waited for the moon to rise,
When my song was over, all my senses had gone.
XXIII. 13. SELF-ABANDONMENT
I sat drinking and did not notice the dusk,
Till falling petals filled the folds of my dress.
Drunken I rose and walked to the moonlit stream;
The birds were gone, and men also few.
