Chinese Poems

The thing that impressed me most about these poems (that range in time from before the Han Dynasty up to China in the Middle Ages) is the humanity of the writers that is expressed so simply, sucinctly and eloquently. There are several poems by women which add a greater range of perspective to this collection. Valuable insights about that which is grave and constant in the human experience. Emotions of lost love, unrequitted love and mourning are dealt with among other emotions.

I devoured this book on a long-distance plane trip recently, and was amazed at the relevance of this collection of ancient, Chinese poems to modern life. Covering the time mostly between 900 B.C. and 1200 A.D., the themes these ancient poets deal with are the same most of us contemplate driving to work in the morning (if we turn off the radio), or lie with as we drift to sleep at night.I found the poetry a little slow at first, but it gets more and more interesting the further one reads. I recommend it for the middle aged or older reader, or for anyone else who has time and inclination to seek the examined life. Food, romance, long-distance marriages and friendships, gender discrimination, the joys and frustrations of military service, the joys and frustrations of bureaucracy, fidelity, infidelity, births, and deaths, humor, sorrow -- it's all there, and speaks to us through the millenia.A great collection at a bargain price!