Li Po and Tu Fu: Poems Selected and Translated with an Introduction and Notes (Penguin Classics)

Li Po and Tu Fu are traditionally regarded by the Chinese as their two greatest poets. Together their poetry has a "balance of nature". Sometimes they are referred to as one poet, "Li-Tu". This book has a wonderful introduction which tells of each man, his life and together of their friendship. What we know is that they lived during the Tang Dynasty which is considered the 'golden age' of China in which the arts flourished. According to the introduction we do not have an exact date and place of Li Po's birth but it is estimated to be 701 somewhere near the frontier of the Soviet Union. What I love best about Li Po's poetry is his great imagination and imagery. I believe he was a "Romantic" poet. Li Po's view of the world is not set in reality but how he imagines it to be which makes his poetry beautiful. Some of my favorite poems by Li Po: "Drinking Alone with the Moon" about drinking his wine among the flowers and talking to the moon. The moon encourages him and becomes his friend - very lovely poem. Also "Old Poem" is very fanciful and rich - "Did Chaung Chou dream / he was the butterfly, / Or the butterfly / that it was Chaung Chou?" One that I read again and again is entitled "A song of Adieu to the Queen of the Skies, After a Dream Voyage to Her". This is a mystical poem talking of seafarers who tell of the Fairy Isles. The language is simply gorgeous. Tu Fu's nature is different than Li Po's but he is equally as talented. According to the introducton, "Tu Fu as a man is contrasted with Li Po in almost every conceivable way." Many consider him to be the greater of the two poets. His poems are autobiographical and historical. Several of his poems are ballads to great people and others deal with loneliness and seclusion but they are beautiful and moving to read. Although the two poets were very different, they knew and respected one another and it is just a matter of personal taste as to which one you might prefer. Either way this is a beautiful book with a rather long but interesting introduction and it is well worth it for the English translations of these poems. Here's a poem by Li Po saying farewell to a friend: Blue mountains lie beyond the north wall; Round the city's eastern side flows the white water. Here we part, friend, once forever. You go ten thousand miles, drifting away Like an unrooted water-grass. Oh, the floating clouds and the thoughts of a wanderer! Oh, the sunset and the longing of an old friend! We ride away from each other, waving our hands, While our horses neigh softly, softly . . . . "

Li Po (AD 701 - 762) and Tu Fu (AD 712 - 770) are regarded as the two greatest Chinese poets. Li Po was a spiritual poet whose verse deals with consciousness and the human mind, whilst Tu Fu was a chronicler of the everyday life. The book includes a thorough introduction encompassing the pronunciation of Chinese words and names, notes on the Chinese calligraphy and the introduction proper which provides information on the poets and their times, plus backgrounds to T'ang Poetry and the principles of Chinese syllabic metre. The poems are elucidated with explanatory notes and with reference to Ezra Pound's translations in his book Cathay. In this regard, I found here another translation of Li Po's poem The Ballad Of Ch'ang-Kan (The Sailor's Wife) the first part of which was translated as The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter, by Pound. This is a beautiful poem and I was very pleased to find the second part here. Although there is no unanimity amongst scholars that it really is by Li Po, it perfectly completes the first part and Cooper's notes here are very illuminating, especially as regards place names on the Yangtse river. This excellent book concludes with a list of titles and an index of first lines, including poems by other poets in the introduction.

I am not giving the stars to the translation or the edition. This is the only book on Li Po I could find available a few months ago. I guess I was lucky enough to run into an old edition of Li Po's poetry at my University library years ago, and had been looking for a copy since then. Got this. Want more.

LI PO AND TU FU : Poems Selected and Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Arthur Cooper. Chinese Calligraphy by Shui Chien-tung. (Penguin Classics). 249 pp. Penguin 1973, and Reissued.This is a valuable book in many ways. Besides giving a selection of enjoyable translations of China's two greatest poets - Li Po (+ 701-762, 25 poems) and Tu Fu (+ 712-770, 18 poems), it also includes a remarkably full and informative Introduction of almost 100 pages which not only serves to introduce beginners to the subject of Chinese poetry, and to the work of Li Po and Tu Fu in particular, but which could also be read with profit by others.Each of the 43 poems is followed by an explanatory comment, which can range in length from paragraph to essay form. The book also includes a Guide to the Pronunciation of Chinese Words and Names, and, since twelve of the poems are accompanied by the Chinese text in the striking calligraphy of Shui Chien-tung, a Note on Chinese Calligraphy has been provided by the artist for the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the nature and history of this fascinating art form.Shui Chien-tung has "adopted a manner influenced by Chinese bronze inscriptions [and] has also followed various styles of writing to suit the different poems" (pp.13-14). The result is a clear style which in most cases will cause no problems for anyone who may be studying Chinese characters, since the structure of even the more complex characters can easily be discerned.Here, as an example of Cooper's style (with my obliques added to indicate line breaks), is the first of two 'sonnets' of Tu Fu's 'At an Evening Picnic, with Young Bucks and Beauties' :"Sunset's the time to take the boat out / When a light breeze raises slow ripples, / Bamboo-hidden is the picnic place / And lotus-fresh in the evening cool; // But while the bucks are mixing iced drinks / And beauties snow a lotus salad, / A slip of cloud comes black overhead : / Before it rains my sonnet must end !" (p.163)Cooper's reading nicely evokes the lighthearted amusements of spoiled and wealthy youth, out on the cool water with a party of singing girls for an evening of companionship and pleasure after the heat of the day.Cooper's anthology has an excellent Introduction, is of manageable size, well-translated, helpfully annotated, uniquely illustrated with Shui Chien-tung's calligraphy, and has other useful features. It would make a good introduction for anyone new to Chinese poetry, and it can also be read with interest by anyone wishing to extend their knowledge of Li Po and Tu Fu. Those who, after reading it, would like to explore further and learn about some of China's other great writers, might take a look at the excellent anthology by Cyril Birch, another book I can strongly recommend:ANTHOLOGY OF CHINESE LITERATURE : From early times to the fourteenth century. Compiled and edited by Cyril Birch. Associate editor Donald Keene. 492 pp. New York : Grove Press, 196