Lillie Robertson
Drinking Alone
By: Li Po
I take my wine jug out among the flowers
to drink alone, without friends.
I raise my cup to entice the moon.
That, and my shadow, makes us three.
But the moon doesn't drink,
and my shadow silently follows.
I will travel with moon and shadow,
happy to the end of spring.
When I sing, the moon dances.
When I dance, my shadow dances, too.
We share life's joys when sober.
Drunk, each goes a separate way.
Constant friends, although we wander,
we'll meet again in the Milky Way.
Li T'ai-po
Poem Link:
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/drinking-alone/
Photograph Explanation:
The Photograph in the upper right is symbol of the lonely light that Li Po was expressing in the poem. It says the moon doesn't drink; it travels with him. The darkness of the picture symbolizes the but interesting tone
Photograph Link:https://pixabay.com/en/photos/full%20moon/
5 Facts:
>Born in Central Asia and grew up in Sichuan Province as a part of the Tang Dynasty
>He left home in 725 to wander through the Yangtze River Valley and write poetry
>He was married 4 times and friends with the poet Tu Fu
>In 742 he was appointed to Hanlin Academy by emperor Xuanzong
>Li Po was arrested for treason; after he was let out, he again wandered the Yangtze Valley
Facts Website:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/li-po
Poem Analysis:
The poem Drinking Alone is expressing the thought process of the author who is alone and what they are doing in this time of isolation. The man creates his own companions: the moon and his own shadow. The speaker, who is never revealed, is used to the sense of the loneliness and the negative emotion he feels. He never speaks about his own feelings, but as the societies emotion as a whole. When the author writes "...my shadow silently follows" its giving the shadow human characteristics making it personified. Also being personified, is the moon. The author explains "When I sing, the mood dances". In the very first stanza the author says "...to drink alone, without friends", by emphasizing the fact that he is alone he uses repetition of the same thing but in different words. The author uses two lines in each stanza to keep it slow moving and sad yet not a long read. There is no rhyme scheme, and I personally think the author did that to make it so that the poem doesn't flow as easily, therefore making it more positive. In a way the tone is changing throughout the whole poem. He starts out sober, then tipsy, and then in the end starts to see more imaginative becoming drunk. It has an underlying sad tone throughout. All though its sad, it has a hint of hope shining through. Overall loneliness can contain a time of self growth, a deeper understanding of life, and keeps you content.
Although I completely agree with your interpretation of the poem, I had a different one compared to the one you expressed. For starters, I also agree with the idea that the main character created his own companions, the moon and the shadow, because he was tipsy. The line ," we share life's joys when sober," led me to believe the moon, shadow and himself are one person when he is conscious or not drunk. The following line expresses the idea that, " drunk , each goes a separate way." The way the two lines were presented drew me to interpret the poem as when conscious, one is self composed, but one can also as easily be enticed to go down a different path and slowly fall apart. Overall, although we had different points of view I really enjoyed reading your ideas.
ReplyDeleteYour analysis was very well thought out and interesting to read. Yet, I disagreed with the interpretation of it. When you said "Loneliness can contain a time of self growth, a deeper understanding of life, and keeps you content". I don't think thats what the author was trying to depict. I believe the poem was made purely for enjoyment and doesn't have a deeper meaning about life itself. In the poem it says "Drunk, each goes a separate way", meaning the author was probably drunk when he wrote it.
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