Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, BLAMING SONS (AN APOLOGY FOR HIS OWN DRUNKENNESS), by T'AO CH'IEN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

BLAMING SONS (AN APOLOGY FOR HIS OWN DRUNKENNESS), by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: White hair covers my temples
Last Line: What can I do but fill my cup?
Alternate Author Name(s): T'ao Yuan-ming; Tao Yuanming; Tao Qian
Subject(s): Alcoholism & Alcoholics; China - Early Period (to 200 B.c.); China - Middle Ages (600 B.c.- 618 A.d.); Sons


WHITE hair covers my temples,
I am wrinkled and seared beyond repair,
And though I have got five sons,
They all hate paper and brush.
A-shu is eighteen:
For laziness there is none like him.
A-hsuan does his best,
But really loathes the Fine Arts.
Yung-tuan is thirteen,
But does not know "six" from "seven."
T'ung-tzu in his ninth year
Is only concerned with things to eat.
If Heaven treats me like this,
What can I do but fill my cup?





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