Kelly is an instructor of creative writing and literature at two colleges in Illinois. In this essay, Kelly argues that Li Po's poem is more than just a song of praise for wine—that it balances its praise with an attitude that most readers would consider modern.

Some poems are good for capturing the moment in which they are written, and these might even be of interest to future historians. Few poems, though, can keep people's attention over the course of generations without tapping into eternal truths. Ideas of truth might change, but literature that endures must be as relevant to people not born in the author's lifetime as they were when they were first devised. A good example of this is the poetry of Li Po, considered one of China's preeminent poets. During his lifetime, from roughly a.d. 701 to 762 , he struggled against formality and intellectualism...