by Glenda K. Fralin

Created on: June 20, 2008   Last Updated: September 04, 2011

Li Po also known as Li Bai was a sixth century Chinese poet. He was a Taoist and member of a small group of Chinese poets who were devoted to nature and wine. The poem "Drinking Alone with The Moon" is likely from that period of his life. Some other subjects that he studied in his poetry which may apply were an interest in alchemy, friendship and solitude. He was a wondering poet traveling throughout China. His imagination and humorous character are apparent in this poem.

The following translation of the poem looks to give a line by line account. We must remember that this is for our benefit as Chinese writing is vertical and breaks are best interpreted with an open mind. Since the Chinese language use of punctuation is hard to interpret, I will not emphasize that much here, except where it is an indicator from the translator to the reader.

Drinking Alone with the Moon
From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone. There was no one with me -
Till raising my cup, I ask the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three.
Alas, the moon was unable to drink
And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
But still for a while I had these friends
To cheer me through the end of spring....
I sang. The moon encouraged me
I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
As long as I knew, we were born companions.
And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.
....Shall goodwill ever be secure?
I watch the long road of the River of Stars.

http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~yangzw/libai1.html

"Drinking Alone with The Moon" encompasses several of the characteristics that define Li Po. As a devotee to nature, wine, solitude and humor. Li Po reveals much of himself in this poem. Thus the importance of this poem to understanding his other works and ancient Taoism is apparent.

"From a pot of wine among the flowers
I drank alone. There was no one with me -"

This statement I would take very literally. This poem shows a progression from realistic into the imaginative and from sober state to drunk. The flow of this poem tells more of a story than just setting and looking at the moon while drinking wine. Notice the slight change in tone of the next lines:

"Till raising my cup, I ask the bright moon
To bring me my shadow and make us three."

Now we start to see Li Po's imaginative wit and the involvement of the wine in this scheme. He does not seem to be drunk yet, but he certainly expects to be, in fact drunkenness is his goal. His playful treatment of nature at this point is unmistakable. He asks the moon to give him his shadow?

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