Response to Palinode Project Post

In the Wineshop of Chinling

The wind scatters the fragrance of the willows over the shop
The sing-song girls pour the rice wine heated for the guests
My friends have gathered to say goodbye
Drinking cup after cup, I wonder why I should start
"Say, can you tell me about the east flowing river---
Does it stretch as long as this feeling of departure?"

-Li Po,
Trans. WCW

In the wine-shop of Philadelphia

Bottled wine made from vines rooted in place:
Nature hath them somewhere, law hath them here.
I who wander but from one man cannot
Wonder whether my nature is a law.

Is it law that hath me drunk from looking
At new cities, festivals of foreign wills
Or law's brief absence and friendship filling air?
There's only a question, and some bottles.

-Me

Vin en bouteille, fait de vignes enracine:
Par nature en un lieu, grace a la loi en celui ci
Moi, qui vogue mais d'un homme ne peut pas m'echapper,
Je me demande si ma nature est loi.

Es-ce la loi qui m'enivre de l'allure
Des villes inconnus, carnavales d'etranges volontes
Ou l'absence momentaire de cette loi, et l'ambience d'amitie?
Il n'y a qu'une question, et des bouteilles.

-Me
Trans. Me