DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON     Li Bai （701 － 762） and his contemporary Du Fu are regarded as the two greatest poets of the greatest period of Tang Dynasty poetry. In about 720, Li left his home at Changming, Sichuan, and for twenty years wandered from place to place, occasionally seeking official employment but not through the governmental examinations. For a short period （742 － 744）, he enjoyed favor as a court poet at the capital of Chang’an, but thereafter he resumed his wanderings. Late in his life he was involved in the revolt of Prince Lin and banished （758） to Yunnan, but pardoned before he reached there.     －－ partly from The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse, Edited by A.R. Davis, Penguin Books, 1962.     月下独酌     DRINKING ALONE WITH THE MOON     花间一壶酒。     From a pot of wine among the flowers－－     独酌无相亲。     I drank alone and there was no one with me.     举杯邀明月。     Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon－－     对影成三人。     to bring me my shadow and make us three.     月既不解饮。     Alas, the moon was unable to drink－－     影徒随我身。     and my shadow tagged me vacantly.     暂伴月将影。     But still for a while I had these friends－－     行乐须及春。     to cheer me through the end of spring.     我歌月徘徊。     I sang. The moon encouraged me.     我舞影零乱。     I danced. My shadow tumbled after.     醒时同交欢。     As I am sober, we were companions.     醉後各分散。     And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.     永结无情游。     Shall goodwill ever be secure？     相期邈云汉。     I watch the long road of the River of Stars.