Down the blue mountain in the evening,
Moonl ight was my homeward escort .
Look ing back, I saw my path
Lie in levels of deep shadow...
I was passing the farm-house of a friend,
When his children called from a gate of thorn
And led me twining through j ade bamboos
Where green vines caught and held my clothes.
And I was glad of a chance to rest
And glad of a chance to drink with my friend.
We sang to the tune of the wind in the pines ;
And we finished our songs as the stars went down,
When, I being drunk and my friend more than happy,
Between us we forgot the world.
Original Poem:
「下终南山过斛斯山人宿置酒」
李白
暮从碧山下，山月随人归。
却顾所来径，苍苍横翠微。
相携及田家，童稚开荆扉。
绿竹入幽径，青萝拂行衣。
欢言得所憩，美酒聊共挥。
长歌吟松风，曲尽河星稀。
我醉君复乐，陶然共忘机。
Interpretation:
At the time of writing this poem, Li Bai was serving as a scholar in Chang’an. The poem describes the poet’s visit to a famous scholar’s hermitage in the Tang Dynasty – Zhongnan Mountain, south of Chang’an, on a moonlit night, to enjoy the natural scenery with him, drink wine and sing loudly. Here the poet forgets the fame and fortune of the world, and enjoys the lightness of life with an indifferent heart.
This poem is centered on the poet’s activities and the theme of drinking wine in a field house, which belongs to idyllic poetry. The poet writes: Walking down from Zhongnan Mountain in the evening, the amorous moon walks with me. Looking back at the mountain path I had just traveled, it was shrouded in verdure. Hand in hand with the hermit of Dushi, I came to his field house, and the child came out and opened the wood door. Walking on the quiet path covered with green bamboos, the branches and leaves of the green roses brushed my clothes. We laughed and talked, and our hearts were truly relaxed. In the face of the beauty of the night, guests and hosts frequently raised their glasses and drank wine. Drinking to the excitement, we were so excited that we sang, with the guqin to play the song of the pine wind, the song finished the song is already the moon and stars late at night. I was so drunk that I was confused, and the host was also so crazy that we were all happy and intoxicated, letting the world’s treachery and deceitfulness go to hell!
This poem is very much influenced by Tao Yuanming in the choice of material, but the way of expression is very different from Tao Yuanming. Li Bai’s poem, however, is rich in ink and color, deliberately rendering the beauty of the mountains and forests in the twilight and the hermit’s peaceful courtyard of the field, writing the scenery is brightly colored, and melting the feelings of the gods, so that people like to see the scene of their feelings.
Poem translator:
Kiang Kanghu
About the poet:
Li Bai (李白), 701 ~ 762 A.D., whose ancestral home was in Gansu, was preceded by Li Guang, a general of the Han Dynasty. Tang poetry is one of the brightest constellations in the history of Chinese literature, and one of the brightest stars is Li Bai.
