Tea Poems Around The World

Lu Tong (simplified Chinese: 卢仝; traditional Chinese: 盧仝; pinyin: Lú Tóng; Wade-Giles: Lú Tung, 790–835) was a Chinese poet of Tang Dynasty known for his lifelong study of the "Tea Culture". He was a peculiar man who never became an official, and is better known for his love of tea than his poetry[1] [2].
The poems that survive are about tea, a favorite being the "Seven Bowls of Tea", translated below:t

3 poems revolving around  a cup of tea from Lu Tong, Wallace Stevens and Alexander Pushkin....
Lu Tong:

Chinese:

七碗茶詩

一碗喉吻潤, 兩碗破孤悶

三碗搜枯腸唯有文字五千卷

四碗發輕汗平生不平事﹐盡向毛孔散

五碗肌骨輕﹐六碗通仙靈

七碗吃不得也﹐唯覺兩習習清風生

蓬萊山﹐在何處玉川子乘此清風欲歸去

山上群仙司下土地位清高隔風雨

English Translation:
The 7 Bowls of Tea

The first bowl of tea moistens my throat,

the second breaks my loneliness, and

the third bowl racks my brains, bringing to light the texts of 5,000 volumes.

The fourth induces perspiration whereby all ills evaporate through my pores.

The fifth makes my muscles and bones feel light, and

the sixth links me to celestials.

Be careful when drinking the seventh bowl,

as it makes you feel as if a cool breeze were coming from your armpits.



American modernist poet Wallace Stevens's first book of poetry, Harmonium has one poem called, 'Tea'.It was first published in 1915 in the journal Rogue.


Tea

When the elephant's-ear in the park
Shrivelled in frost,
And the leaves on the paths
Ran like rats,
Your lamp-light fell
On shining pillows,
Of sea-shades and sky-shades
Like umbrellas in Java.


Russian grandy Aleksandr Pushkin in Eugene Onegin displayed the role of tea in establishing romantic relations:


Of single boredom, right away
They speak–but in a cunning way.
They call him to their samovar–
None but Dunya will pour the tea;
They whisper to her: "Dunya, see!"
And then produce her sweet guitar.
O Christ! She then begins to cheep:
"Come see me in my golden keep!"

Compilation by Choyon Khairul Habib