by Shaheen Darr

Created on: June 16, 2008   Last Updated: November 20, 2009

Right from the onset, this poem describes to us the loneliness of a man who is surrounded by nature, yet has no one with whom to share his feelings or life.

A cup of wine, under the flowering trees; I drink alone, for no friend is near These lines reflect the life of Li Po himself as he left his home while still a teenager and lived in the mountains. There must have been moments when he felt the loneliness and solitude of his life, even though it was a self-inflicted state.

Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon, For he, with my shadow, will make three men There is a touch of sarcasm about the situation he is in and he is raising his cup to the moon pretending that the company of the moon and his shadow is similar to having people around him. Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side. Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave. It is as if his shadow represents the side of his character that is weak and wants to hide from the world. He uses words like 'listless' and 'slave' as they describe someone who is tired, lacking energy, someone like himself who is helpless to his surroundings and to the way, his life is being lived.

Being in a drunken state does not spell happiness as he writes, While we were sober, three shared the fun; Now we are drunk, each goes his way.. He is talking about the moon and his shadow, each moving in different directions to the ones he wants to go.. As he is drunk, he has no control over his life and he realises this because it is when he is sober that he can enjoy his life and have some fun.

Maybe he will find his happiness in death when he goes to the Cloudy River of the sky. There is an underlying sense of depression when he describes the beauty of spring, the carpet of fallen flowers and how anyone who is sober can bear to see such beauty. In other words, he has to be in a drunken state to appreciate the beauty nature has to offer.

Li Po mentions God as the Maker of Things who apportions and disposes of the good and bad things in life, riches and poverty, life and death. It is only through drink that he can shut such philosophical questions out to which he can provide no answers and in this state of unquestioning, unfeeling, almost dead state he discovers that at that time 'joy is great indeed'

In a delirious state he talks about the importance of wine both in heaven an on earth,
Since Heaven and Earth both love wine, I can love wine, without shame before God. He talks about the depth of his addiction to wine saying, At the third cup I penetrate the Great Way; A full gallon, nature and I are one.... meaning that when he is drunk and almost loses his mind, he becomes as if one with God and nature. However, this does not stop his feelings of loneliness and solitude because the things I feel when wine possesses my soul, I will never tell to those who are not drunk.

This poem describes the lonely and solitary thoughts of a person who has given up on people and earthly things and drinks to cope with his solitude. He has accepted the life he has made for himself and keeps it private. To shut out the loneliness of his existence and the unanswered questions on life he drinks to numb himself of all feelings and yet it is through drink that he seems to become as if one with nature and to understand the meaning of life itself. Called a wandering poet, most of his poems were his reflections on wine, nature, friendships and the passing of time.

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