Love, Love is both wine and cup,
Love is a wine that puts all rivals under the table.
That first world-displaying cup is but
a reflection of the purity of Love's glass
and the half-drunk glance of the saki also drinks
from this wine, whose ultimate end is desire.
This cup was drained, and from its outpouring
the water of life drenched the world;
from that water a bubble arose
and was called 'the 18,000 worlds'...
You who have no news of this intoxicating vintage
(never for a second having stepped outside yourself)
how long have you boiled the pot of love-madness
there in your monastery – and still the stew is raw!
Now come to the tavern, for a few days
sit from morning to night;
drink a toast to the desires of the friend of wine
till you're drunk enough to see through his eyes.
Look: the saki's face
how it swells the soul
the saki's eternal face in the
world-displaying cup.
♥️
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