Joy over Lu’s Visit When I’m Bedfast by a Lake

　湖上卧病喜陆鸿渐至
　　　　　　　　李冶

昔去繁霜月，今来苦雾时。
相逢仍卧病，欲语泪先垂。
强劝陶家酒，还吟谢客诗。
偶然成一醉，此外更何之。

　　Joy over Lu’s Visit When I’m Bedfast by a Lake
　　　　　　　　Li Ye [Tang Dynasty]
Last time in frosty moonlight you went away,
This time in bitter fog you come to pay a visit.
Upon meeting when I am still bed-confined,
Before I could greet, my tears well up and drop.
You are persuaded into a wine favored by Helmet Tao,
Then we compose lines in the light of Landscapist Hsie.
This occasion is rare, so let’s get drunk,
What else to do when there is nowhere to go?

Word-by-word Exegesis:

　湖lake 上on卧lie病sick喜happy陆鸿渐Lu Hongjian至arrive

昔past　去go　繁luxuriant　霜frost　月moon
今today　来come　苦bitter　雾fog　时time
相each other　逢meeting　仍still　卧lie　病sick
欲want　语speak　泪tears　先first　垂drop
强hard　劝persuade　陶Tao　家family　酒wine
还furthermore　吟recite/ compose　谢Xie　客guest　诗verse
偶然occasionally　成make　一one　醉drunk
此here　外except　更more　何where　之go

About the Author:
　　Li Ye李冶, courtesy name Ji Lan季兰, was one of the three most famous female poets in Tang Dynasty (the other two being Yu Xuanji (鱼玄机Yu Hsuan-chi) and Xue Tao (薛涛Hsüeh T'ao). The friend Lu Hongjian (Lu Yu) who came to visit her authored a book on tea Classsic of Tea (Tea Sutra). Li Ye was a very liberal beauty, but eventually she became a Taoist nun. She was called to serve at the Imperial court later in her life, but unfortunately she was put to death in 784 BC because one of her poet friends at the court was found guilty. One story about her goes like this.
　　Once she was reported to have a dialogue with another famous poet Liu Changqing. Liu was suffering hernia and had to use a cloth bag to hold up his scrotum to ease himself. One day, she asked about his health by quoting a line from Tao Yuanming: 山气日夕佳, which literally means “Mountain air is good morning and dusk”. However, the “mountain air” in Chinese is homophonic to 疝气 hernia. Liu responded by quoting another line by Tao: 众鸟欣有託, which literally means “All the birds are happy to have trust”. In this response, “the birds” refers in slang to the male genital, while the word “trust” is homophonic to “hold” (codpiece).
　　The last couplet of this five-word regular verse (four five-word couplets, with a rhyme scheme of ABAA) is usually read to be feminine, as being drunk could be usual among male poets while here the poetess appeared to find excuses for getting drunk. In the poem, Tao refers Tao Yuanming (陶渊明Tao Qian, T’ao Ch’ien 365-427 a most influential pre-Tang poet), a helmet poet, and Xie refers to Xie Lingyun (谢灵运Hsieh Lingyün 385-433), a poet about landscape.