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A Lover's Soliloquy
A LOVER'S SOLILOQUY is Eddie Tay's second volume of poetry.
Description:
The first sequence of poems in the book (also titled 'A Lover's Soliloquy') suggests how death fails to put a brutal end to a lingering love between a nameless man and his surviving significant other.
The second section, titled 'Versions' is a selection of poems by the late Tang poet Li Shang-yin (AD 813-858) freely adapted or reinterpreted by Tay in English.
The final poems are grouped under the title 'Everyday Poems', no longer in the realm of Death or the Far East of the distant past but the domain of the supposedly familiar.
(source: http://book.douban.com/subject/2156462/)
"A sustained, deeply resonant meditation on love, love lost and spiritual conflict, the title piece is a unique juxtaposition of emotional and religious tensions seldom explored together within a long poem - a testament to poetry's capacity to comfort and illuminate."
-Cyril Wong, Quarterly Literary Review
"With his gallant updates of Li Shang-yin's elusive poetry... Eddie Tay presents a bold attempt to transcend history and culture."
-Clarence Tsui, South China Morning Post
"Tay's different faces - the lover, the classical Chinese poet, and the self in the city - maintain a distinctive voice of direct passion and energy, yet with economy, elegance, and reticence. This will be an important book."
-Pauline Burton, Poet and Critic
Description:
The first sequence of poems in the book (also titled 'A Lover's Soliloquy') suggests how death fails to put a brutal end to a lingering love between a nameless man and his surviving significant other.
The second section, titled 'Versions' is a selection of poems by the late Tang poet Li Shang-yin (AD 813-858) freely adapted or reinterpreted by Tay in English.
The final poems are grouped under the title 'Everyday Poems', no longer in the realm of Death or the Far East of the distant past but the domain of the supposedly familiar.
(source: http://book.douban.com/subject/2156462/)
"A sustained, deeply resonant meditation on love, love lost and spiritual conflict, the title piece is a unique juxtaposition of emotional and religious tensions seldom explored together within a long poem - a testament to poetry's capacity to comfort and illuminate."
-Cyril Wong, Quarterly Literary Review
"With his gallant updates of Li Shang-yin's elusive poetry... Eddie Tay presents a bold attempt to transcend history and culture."
-Clarence Tsui, South China Morning Post
"Tay's different faces - the lover, the classical Chinese poet, and the self in the city - maintain a distinctive voice of direct passion and energy, yet with economy, elegance, and reticence. This will be an important book."
-Pauline Burton, Poet and Critic
- GenresPoetry
71 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 26, 2022
it was okay, not my favorite. i liked how he described running
June 27, 2017
Tay expertly switches between the unseen ghost of forgotten objects, the voice of Erebus; and the poignant lyric of Li Shang-yin's longing. While the everyday poems successfully carry a sense of urban melancholia, they often pale in comparison to the earlier two sections.
[Review 1 - 05/05/17.]
[Review 1 - 05/05/17.]
September 9, 2024
There was a time in my life I would have enjoyed a book like this, but the time has passed. Still, support local...yay?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews