Drinking Alone in the Moonlight

Amongst the flowers Iam alone with my pot of winedrinking by myself; then liftingmy cup I asked the moonto drink with me, its reflectionand mine in the wine cup, justthe three of us; then I sighfor the moon cannot drink,and my shadow goes emptily alongwith me never saying a word;with no other friends here,

I canbut use these two for company;in the time of happiness,

Itoo must be happy with allaround me;

I sit and singand it is as if the moonaccompanies me; then if Idance, it is my shadow thatdances along with me; whilestill not drunk,

I am gladto make the moon and my shadowinto friends, but then whenI have drunk too much, weall part; yet these arefriends I can always count onthese who have no emotionwhatsoever;

I hope that one daywe three will meet again,deep in the Milky Way.

Version

Beneath the blossoms with a pot of wine,

No friends at hand, so I poured alone;

I raised my cup to invite the moon,

Turned to my shadow, and we became three.

Now the moon had never learned about drinking,

And my shadow had merely followed my form,

But I quickly made friends with the moon and my shadow;

To find pleasure in life, make the most of the spring.

Whenever I sang, the moon swayed with me;

Whenever I danced, my shadow went wild.

Drinking, we shared our enjoyment together;

Drunk, then each went off on his own.

But forever agreed on dispassionate revels,

We promised to meet in the far Milky Way.

Li Po was famous for his romantic poems of escape from reality through either his imagination or drinking wine.