The Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) is considered the "Golden Age" of Chinese poetry and a time of cultural ascendency when China was considered the pre-eminent civilization in the world. WHAT EVERY EDUCATED CITIZEN OF THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW IN THE 21ST CENTURY: INTRODUCTION TO THE IMMORTAL TANG DYNASTY POETS OF CHINA-LI BAI (LI PO), DU FU (TU FU), WANG WEI AND BAI JUYI-THE MEETING OF THE BUDDHIST, TAOIST AND CONFUCIAN WORLDS-FROM THE WORLD LITERATURE FORUM RECOMMENDED CLASSICS AND MASTERPIECES SERIES VIA GOODREADS-ROBERT SHEPPARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Really, the following is all you need to know: I haven't done the comparative research to determine which translation is best, but I've yet to be disappointed when I've cracked a Li Po collection. He is as important to me as anyone in my literary pantheon.
I've forgotten my hair turning white as silk. Three mornings and three nights: for once Three mornings we start up Huang-niu Gorge,Īnd three nights find we've gone nowhere. Riverwater keeps streaming down like this,Īnd with riverwater cascading so suddenlyĪway, we'll never reach that azure heaven. Night coming unnoticed in emerald mountains,Īutumn clouds banked up, gone dark and deep.Īzure heaven pinched between Wu Mountains, I hear the pines of ten thousand valleys,Īnd streams rinse my wanderer's heart clean.Įchoes linger among temple frost-fall bells, When he plays, even in a few first notes,
Something Said, Waking Drunk on a Spring DayĪn oriole's voice drifts on spring winds.Ĭarrying a ch'in cased in green silk, a monkĭescended from O-mei Mountain in the west. But let's focus on the nature and the wine, shall we? It may be all that's left after next week's election.įrom the first part of the collection covering the early years: And, unfortunately due to his time in China (701-762), war. Sometimes, especially when you're of a mood, and especially if it's POLITICS which has made you of a mood, you need to reach into the Timeless Shelf and get yourself some Li-Po (Li-Bai).
0 kommentar(er)
