Drunken Chant
醉 吟
古 人 亡， 古 人 在
古 人 不 在 天 应 改。
不 留 三 句 五 句 诗
安 得 千 人 万 人 爱！
今 人 只 笑 古 人 痴
古 人 笑 君 君 不 知。
朝 来 暮 去 能 几 许？
叶 落 花 开 无 尽 时。
人 生 须 要 印 如 斗
不 道 金 棺 探 渠 口。
身 前 只 解 皱 两 眉
身 后 还 能 更 杯 酒？
李 太 白， 阮 嗣 宗
当 年 谁 不 笑 两 翁？
万 古 贤 愚 俱 白 骨
两 翁 天 地 一 清 风！
Zui Yin
Gu ren wang gu ren zai
Gu ren bu zai tian ying gai.
Bu liu san ju wu ju shi
An de qian ren wan ren ai!
Jin ren zhi xiao gu ren chi
Gu ren xiao jun jun bu zhi.
Zhao lai mu qu neng ji xu?
Ye luo hua kai wu jin shi.
Ren sheng xu yao yin ru dou
Bu dao jin guan tan qu kou.
Shen qian zhi jie zhou liang mei
Shen hou huan neng geng bei jiu?
Li tai bai, ruan si zong
Dang nian shei bu xiao liang weng?
Wan gu xian yu ju bai gu
Liang weng tian di yi qing feng!
Drunken Chant
Some old friends gone and lost, some remnants of them remain
Without our ancient people, heaven itself would be different.
Without these remnants, three and five-line poems would not exist
These poems of calm and peace cherished by thousands!
Modern day people laugh alone at these crazy poems
While the ancients laugh at all of them who do not understand.
How many arrivals of dawns and sunsets have come and gone?
Blossoms open up and leaves fall down season after season.
How many dawns arrive and sunsets fade away?
Falling leaves and unfolding blossoms have proceeded long before us.
Implies we should want to try our best at all human activities
And put no gold into the mouths of those inside coffins.
Early years spent with wrinkled eyebrows instead of being separate
Are not later years meant to enjoy cup after cup of wine?
Our inherited masters Li Bai and Ruan Sizong
During their times, who cannot laugh with two old men.
The thousands of able and yet foolish ancients are all now white bones
But these two old men remembered as one clear breeze in heaven and upon the earth!
Notes:
Ruan Sizong: aka Wei Ruanji: (210-263 AD) : Musician and poet during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and early period of Three Kingdoms. Famous for being one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove who spent a lot of time with drugs and cups of wine, followed by the making of music and writing poetry.