Li Bai: Drunk, Later Answer Ding the Eighteenth, I Wrote This Poem After Criticizing Illlusions About the Yellow Crane Tower

Drunk, Later Answer Ding the Eighteenth, I Wrote This Poem After Criticizing Illusions About the Yellow Crane Tower

醉 后 答 丁 十 八 以 诗 讥 予 捶 碎 黄 鹤 楼

黄 鹤 高 楼 已 捶 碎
黄 鹤 仙 人 无 所 依。
黄 鹤 上 天 诉 玉 帝
却 放 黄 鹤 江 南 归。

神 明 太 守 再 雕 饰
新 图 粉 壁 还 芳 菲。
一 州 笑 我 为 狂 客
少 年 往 往 来 相 讥。

君 平 帘 下 谁 家 子
云 是 辽 东 丁 令 威。
作 诗 调 我 惊 逸 兴
白 云 绕 笔 窗 前 飞。
待 取 明 朝 酒 醒 罢
与 君 澳 漫 寻 春 晖。

Zui Hou Da Ding Shi Ba Yi Shi Ji Yu Chui Sui Huang He Lou

Huang he gao lou yi chui sui
Huang he xian ren wu suo yi.
Huang he shang tian su yu di
Que fang huang he jiang nan gui.

Shen ming tai shou zai diao shi
Xin tu fen bi huan fang fei.
Yi zhou xiao wo wei kuang ke
Shao nian wang wang lai xiang ji.

Jun ping lian xia shei jia zi
Yun shi liao dong ding ling wei
Zuo shi diao wo jing yi xing
Bai yun rao bi chuang qian fei
Dai qu ming zhao jiu xing ba
Yu jun ao man xun chun hui.

Drunk, Later Answer Ding the 18th, I Wrote This Poem After Criticizing Illusions About the Yellow Crane Tower

Tall Yellow Crane Tower already broken into pieces
Yellow Crane immortals without a place to dwell.
The yellow cranes go to heaven to tell the jade emperor of the tower’s disappearance
He tells them to go to Yellow Crane Tower in Jiangnan.

Those of elevated mental states keep watch, and again polish, engrave to restore the tower
New pictures, powdered walls with fragrant plants and flowers.
Yizhou people laugh at me, a wild and crazy visitor
Those of younger ages frequently ridicule me

Jun Ping behind room screens, studying the Laozi classics
Ding Lingwei, a thousand years later returns to his hometown as a yellow crane.
Like him I came back to write this poetry
In front of my window, my brush writes like the coiling white clouds.
Awaiting for the brightness of daybreak and complete sobriety from wine
Give you a peek into those who search for spring sunshine.

Notes:

Yellow Crane Tower: An ancient sacred site of Daoism, built of the banks of the Changjiang (Yangzi River), near the city of Wuhan in 223 AD.

Yizhou: A  Guangxi Province and Sichuan Province region

Jun Ping: Legendary Daoist connected to the the Yellow Crane Tower

Ding Lingwei: An ancient Daoist immortal,  connected to flying cranes ascending into heaven.  Also refers to something that is a good omen.

Jiangnan: The region south of the mouth of the Changjiang (Zhejiang Province)