English Original
that Li Po, drunk,
leaned over the boat’s side
to embrace the moon
and drowned . . . ?
sure, I believe it
Red Lights, 3:1, January 2007
Larry Kimmel
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
李白，酒醉，
俯身翻過船側
去擁抱月亮
淹死了 ...？
當然，我相信這個故事
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
李白，酒醉，
俯身翻过船侧
去拥抱月亮
淹死了 ...？
当然，我相信这个故事
Bio Sketch
Larry Kimmel is a US poet. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Pittsburgh University, and has worked at everything from steel mills to libraries. Recent books are Blue Night & the inadequacy of long-stemmed roses, this hunger, tissue-thin, and The Piercing Blue of Sirius. He lives with his wife in the hills of Western Massachusetts.
Editor's Note:
Li Po (or Li Bai) , the god of poetry reincarnate, was part of the group of Chinese scholars in Chang'an (the capital of Tang China) his fellow poet Du Fu called the "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup." He is best known for his poems about the moon and wine. One of his most famous poems and a good example of his writing is his "Drinking Alone by Moonlight" (Chinese: 月下獨酌), which has been translated into English by various authors, including this translation, by Arthur Waley:
花間一壺酒。 A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;
獨酌無相親。 I drink alone, for no friend is near.
舉杯邀明月。 Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,
對影成三人。 For he, with my shadow, will make three men.
月既不解飲。 The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;
影徒隨我身。 Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.
暫伴月將影。 Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave
行樂須及春。 I must make merry before the Spring is spent.
我歌月徘徊。 To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;
我舞影零亂。 In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and break.
醒時同交歡。 While we were sober, three shared the fun;
醉後各分散。 Now we are drunk, each goes his way.
永結無情遊。 May we long share our odd, inanimate feast,
相期邈雲漢。 And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky.
(Note: the "Cloudy River of the sky" refers to the Milky Way)
