Friday, April 4, 2008

Li Bai--Tang Dynasty Bad Boy!


They just don't make poets like they used to--back in the 700's, Li Bai was China's #1 badass. Just check out this poem where he gets so wasted he doesn't know what season it is:

(The Meaning of Life Revealed) Upon Waking Up Drunk on a Spring Day
translated by Keith Holyoak

Life in this world is just a glorious dream,
So why should we sweat and toil our lives away?
Be lazy—pour yourself wine, and always stay drunk
Like me, laid out here on the porch all day
Until I woke up, and spied among the courtyard’s
Blossoming flowers one small songbird at play.
"Little friend," I inquired, "Could you kindly tell me the season?"
The wandering warbler sang on the breeze of May—
Spring already! I only could heave a sigh,
Pour some more wine, and down it without delay.
Then loudly I sang, awaiting the bright moonrise.
My song has ended—I forget what I meant to say!

Makes today's department wine-and-cheese parties seem totally lame.

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