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Friends on pipa, poetry and drinking, all of them cast me away. When I see the snow, the moon or blossoms, I long for you deeply.

琴詩酒友皆抛我雪月花時最憶君

Original text (Chinese)

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Poetry

More quotes by Bai Juyi

I am lucky not to have such bad habits. I only indulge myself in drinking wine and writing poetry. I am indeed indulgent, but what harm will that do?

I set my eyes on the green mountain, and let my hair grow white.
Who knows how many years I have left to live in this world?
From now till the end of my life, there are only days of leisure.

I lay my harp on the curved table,
Sitting there idly, filled only with emotions.
Why should I trouble to play?
A breeze will come and sweep the strings.

I remember, when I was young,
How easily my mood changed from sad to gay.
... But now that age comes,
A moment of joy is harder and harder to get.

My partners at the zither, poetry and drinking have all left me,
the time of snow, moon and flowers is when I miss a friend the most.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Bai Juyi (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.