Li Bai the Chinese Byron and Romantic Tippler

Li Bai was a romantic figure called the Lord Byron of Chinese poetry. He also liked to tipple, toasting the moon...

May 03, 2025

Li Po's "The Solitude of Night" - by Sean Johnson — Li Bai toasting the moon.

Li Bai (701-762) was a romantic figure called the Lord Byron of Chinese poetry. He and his friend Du Fu (712-770) were the leading poets of the Tang Dynasty era, the Golden Age of Chinese poetry. Li Bai is also known as Li Po, Li Pai, Li T’ai-po, and Li T’ai-pai.

The Solitude of Night
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

At the wine party
I lay comatose, knowing nothing.
Windblown flowers fell, perfuming my lap.
When I arose, still drunk,
The birds had all flown to their nests.
All that remained were my fellow inebriates.
I left to walk along the river—alone with the moonlight.

Lines from Laolao Ting Pavilion
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The spring breeze knows partings are bitter;
The willow twig knows it will never be green again.

Because the students of Hang Seng University in Hong Kong study meter and rhyme, I have created a rhyming version of this ancient poem especially for them:

Lines from Laolao Ting Pavilion
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The spring breeze knows partings are bitter;
The willow twig knows winter
will splinter
its ancestors.

A Toast to Uncle Yun
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Water reforms, though we slice it with our swords;
Sorrow returns, though we drown it with our wine.

This is another rhyming translation for the students of Hang Seng University:

A Toast to Uncle Yun
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Although we slice it with our swords, water reforms.
Although we drown it with our wine, sorrow returns.

Quiet Night Thoughts
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Moonlight illuminates my bed
as frost brightens the ground.
Lifting my eyes, the moon allures.
Lowering my eyes, I long for home.

My interpretation of this famous poem is a bit different from the norm. The moon symbolizes love, so I imagine the moon shining on Li Bai’s bed to be suggestive, an invitation. A man might lower his eyes to avoid seeing something his wife would not approve of.

Farewell to a Friend
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Rolling hills rim the northern border;
white waves lap the eastern riverbank...
Here you set out like a windblown wisp of grass,
floating across fields, growing smaller and smaller.
You’ve longed to travel like the rootless clouds,
yet our friendship declines to wane with the sun.
Thus let it remain, our insoluble bond,
even as we wave goodbye till you vanish.
My horse neighs, as if unconvinced.

The translation above has slant and internal rhymes: border/smaller, wane/remain, sun/bond, vanish/unconvinced. The tricks of the translator's trade, perhaps, when perfect rhymes are not apparent?

Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain
by Li Bai
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Now the birds have deserted the sky
and the last cloud slips down the drains.

We sit together, the mountain and I,
until only the mountain remains.

DU FU

Du Fu (712-770) is also known as Tu Fu. The first poem, "Moonlit Night," is addressed to the poet's wife, who had fled war with their children. Ch'ang-an is ironic because it means "Long-peace."

Moonlit Night (I)
by Du Fu (712-770)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Alone in your bedchamber
you gaze out at the Fu-Chou moon.

Here, so distant, I think of our children,
too young to understand what keeps me away
or to remember Ch'ang-an ...

A perfumed mist, your hair's damp ringlets!
In the moonlight, your arms' exquisite jade!

Oh, when can we meet again within your bed's drawn curtains,
and let the heat dry our tears?

Moonlit Night (II)
by Du Fu (712-770)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

Tonight the Fu-Chou moon
watches your lonely bedroom.

Here, so distant, I think of our children,
too young to understand what keeps me away
or to remember Ch'ang-an ...

By now your hair will be damp from your bath
and fall in perfumed ringlets;
your jade-white arms so exquisite in the moonlight!

Oh, when can we meet again within those drawn curtains,
and let the heat dry our tears?

Lone Wild Goose
by Du Fu (712-770)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

The abandoned goose refuses food and drink;
he cries querulously for his companions.

Who feels kinship for that strange wraith
as he vanishes eerily into the heavens?

You watch the goose as it disappears;
its plaintive calls cut through you.

The indignant crows ignores us both:
the bickering, bantering multitudes.

Martin Mc Carthy

May 3Edited

There is something very likeable about Li Bai - one of the truly great Chinese poets of the Tang Dynasty, even though he seemed to have spent much of his time walking by the river, drinking wine in moonlight, and composing poems about it - or maybe that’s why he’s so likeable. That and the sheer timeless quality of his work. I particularly like this poem called "The Solitude of Night".

At the wine party

I lay comatose, knowing nothing.

Windblown flowers fell, perfuming my lap.

When I arose, still drunk,

The birds had all flown to their nests.

All that remained were my fellow inebriates.

I left to walk along the river—alone with the moonlight.

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4 replies by Michael R. Burch and others

May 3

That really interesting. Thanks for telling me that, Teálach.

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