Page:The poet Li Po - Waley.djvu/32

If Earth herself had no love for wine,
There would not be a city called Wine Springs.^[1]
Since Heaven and Earth both love wine,
I can love wine, without shame before God.
Clear wine was once called "a Saint;"
Thick wine was once called "a Sage."^[2]
Of Saint and Sage I have long quaffed deep,
What need for me to study spirits and hsien?^[3]
At the third cup I penetrate the Great Way;
A full gallon—Nature and I are one. . . .
But the things I feel when wine possesses my soul
I will never tell to those who are not drunk.

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.

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."

"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.

1. Chiu-ch'üan, in Kansuh.
2. "History of Wei Dynasty" (Life of Hsü Mo): "A drunken visitor said, 'Clear wine I account a Saint: thick wine only a Sage.' "
3. Rishi, Immortals.
4. Cf. Little Review, June, 1917, version by Sasaki and M. Bodenheim.