While young, I was not worded about livelihood.
Old now, how could I grudge money for buying wine?
Let's spend ten thousand coins for a jarful of drink good!
Looking in face, two years more we'll be sixty-nine.
We read and play the drinkers' wager game at leisure;
Drunk, we listen to verse better than music light.
When chrysanthemums yellow, may 1 have the pleasure
To invite you to drink my home-brew with delight?
少时犹不忧生计，老去谁能惜酒钱？
共把十千沽一斗，相看七十欠三年。
闲征雅令穷经史，醉听清吟胜管弦。
更待菊黄家酿熟，共君一醉一陶然。
In the second year of Emperor Wenzong’s Kaicheng era (837), Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi both held official positions in Luoyang. However, their roles were insignificant, and they faced political neglect. Nearing seventy, with no further hopes for their careers, they found solace in poetry and wine. This poem was written during one of their drinking gatherings, expressing both the joy of revelry and the underlying sorrow of their frustrated ambitions.
Classical Chinese poetry thrives on Concision and Ambiguity. Without tense or number, the words create a timeless space where the reader becomes the co-creator of the poem's meaning.
Look for Contrasts: light and shadow, movement and stillness. Don't just translate the words; feel the Yijing (artistic conception) that lingers long after the last character.
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