白居易诗

Poems of Bai Juyi


Index

醉中对红叶

Drunk Amid the Falling Leaves


临风杪秋树
对酒长年人
醉貌如霜叶
虽红不是春

Facing the wind beneath bare trees.
Drinking with a bunch of old men.
Our faces look like frosted autumn leaves.
Any red in our cheeks is no sign of youth.

-- 白居易


废话

No idea when this was written. Bai Juyi first mentions his grey hair in a poem written when he was forty. By the time he is sixty, he writes of himself as bald. He also tends to hang out with men older than himself as they are more cultured than younger ones. So we can tentatively place this poem in the Sichuan exile/return to Chang'an era of his forties and fifties. Other than that, we can only note that he is self-effacing, has a sense of humor, and still likes to drink. Anywhere. In all kinds of weather. From what I have learned of him, I can say that he doesn't sit around drinking that much when he's alone. He likes good company with his good wine.

Index