LORD OTOMO TABITO (Japan, 8th Century)

THIRTEEN POEMS IN PRAISE OF WINE

Rather than engaging

in useless worries,

it's better to down a cup

of raw wine.

Great sages of the past

gave the name of "sage" to wine.

How well they spoke!

What the Seven Wise Men

of ancient times wanted,

it seems,

was wine.

Rather than making pronouncements

with an air of wisdom,

it's better to down the wine

and sob drunken tears.

What is most noble,

beyond all words

and beyond all deeds,

is wine.

Rather than be half-heartedly human,

I wish I could be a jug of wine

and be soaked in it!

How ugly!

those men who,

with airs of wisdom,

refuse to drink wine.

Take a good look,

and they resemble apes.

How could even

a priceless treasure

be better than a cup

of raw wine?

How could even a gem

that glitters in the night

be as good as drinking wine

and cleansing the heart?

Here in this life,

on these roads of pleasure,

it is fun to sob drunken tears.

As long as I have fun

in this life,

let me be an insect or a bird

in the next.

Since all who live

must finally die, 

let's have fun

while we're still alive.

Smug and silent airs of wisdom

are still not as good

as downing a cup of wine

and sobbing drunken tears.