What do you think?
Rate this book
Three Chinese Poets
The three T'ang dynasty poets translated here are among the greatest literary figures of China, or indeed the world. Responding differently to their common times, Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu crystallize the immense variety of China and the Chinese poetic tradition and, across a distance of twelve hundred years, move the reader as it is rare for even poetry to do.
Paperback
First published December 31, 1992
14 people are currently reading
354 people want to read
About the author
Vikram Seth
60 books1,700 followersVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist.
During the course of his doctorate studies at Stanford, he did his field work in China and translated Hindi and Chinese poetry into English. He returned to Delhi via Xinjiang and Tibet which led to a travel narrative From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986) was his first novel describing the experiences of a group of friends who live in California. A Suitable Boy (1993), an epic of Indian life set in the 1950s, got him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.
His poetry includes The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is children's book consisting of ten stories in verse about animals.
In 2005, he published Two Lives, a family memoir written at the suggestion of his mother, which focuses on the lives of his great-uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro) who met in Berlin in the early 1930s while Shanti was a student there and with whom Seth stayed extensively on going to England at age 17 for school. As with From Heaven Lake, Two Lives contains much autobiography.
An unusually forthcoming writer whose published material is replete with un- or thinly-disguised details as to the personal lives of himself and his intimates related in a highly engaging narrative voice, Seth has said that he is somewhat perplexed that his readers often in consequence presume to an unwelcome degree of personal familiarity with him.
During the course of his doctorate studies at Stanford, he did his field work in China and translated Hindi and Chinese poetry into English. He returned to Delhi via Xinjiang and Tibet which led to a travel narrative From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983) which won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986) was his first novel describing the experiences of a group of friends who live in California. A Suitable Boy (1993), an epic of Indian life set in the 1950s, got him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize.
His poetry includes The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is children's book consisting of ten stories in verse about animals.
In 2005, he published Two Lives, a family memoir written at the suggestion of his mother, which focuses on the lives of his great-uncle (Shanti Behari Seth) and German-Jewish great aunt (Henny Caro) who met in Berlin in the early 1930s while Shanti was a student there and with whom Seth stayed extensively on going to England at age 17 for school. As with From Heaven Lake, Two Lives contains much autobiography.
An unusually forthcoming writer whose published material is replete with un- or thinly-disguised details as to the personal lives of himself and his intimates related in a highly engaging narrative voice, Seth has said that he is somewhat perplexed that his readers often in consequence presume to an unwelcome degree of personal familiarity with him.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 8, 2018
Vikram Seth not only translates selected works by Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) poets Wang Wei (699-791 CE), Li Bai (701 - 762 CE), and Du Fu (712 - 770 CE), but he also provides a generous introduction. He gives much context regarding Tang dynasty poetry, its structure and the background of the 3 poets, each with a different point of view due to their different life experiences.
Additional information about some of the poems is available in the Notes section at the end of the book. I would have appreciated even more notes!
My favorite poems from this collection...
Wang Wei's "Ballad of the Peach Tree Spring," where a fisherman finds a paradise on Earth.
Li Bai's "Drinking Alone with the Moon," where the narrator shows us how to enjoy life even alone.
Du Fu's "Moonlit Night," where the narrator longs for his family so far away from him.
If you enjoy poetry or would like to learn about this aspect of Chinese literature, please read this book!
Additional information about some of the poems is available in the Notes section at the end of the book. I would have appreciated even more notes!
My favorite poems from this collection...
Wang Wei's "Ballad of the Peach Tree Spring," where a fisherman finds a paradise on Earth.
Li Bai's "Drinking Alone with the Moon," where the narrator shows us how to enjoy life even alone.
Du Fu's "Moonlit Night," where the narrator longs for his family so far away from him.
If you enjoy poetry or would like to learn about this aspect of Chinese literature, please read this book!
December 13, 2019
The delicate words, the descriptive prose but more than that the legends these poems hold makes the book deeply meaningful. It's my first book by the author and though it's a translation, I can't help but nod at his mastery of words.
April 14, 2014
To be honest, I only picked this book because a few weeks ago, I noticed that a fellow reviewer had very much enjoyed her experience with a book on poetry. I had been wanting to read some serious poetry for sometime anyway. So, here I was, an action genre lover trying to foray into a world I hardly understand much less about the narrower section which reveres Chinese poets from centuries ago.
End result, I didn't get it. Probably will not for a long time.
This book is for some serious connoisseurs of poetry. Beginners and wannabe poetry lovers (like me) should mind their business elsewhere.
Now, having said that, I am giving four stars for the only poem I enjoyed, "Drinking alone with the the moon" by Li Bai(one of the three poets showcased in this book), my favorite excerpt:
A pot of wine among the flowers.
I drink alone, no friend with me.
I raise my cup to invite the moon.
He and my shadow and I make three.
End result, I didn't get it. Probably will not for a long time.
This book is for some serious connoisseurs of poetry. Beginners and wannabe poetry lovers (like me) should mind their business elsewhere.
Now, having said that, I am giving four stars for the only poem I enjoyed, "Drinking alone with the the moon" by Li Bai(one of the three poets showcased in this book), my favorite excerpt:
A pot of wine among the flowers.
I drink alone, no friend with me.
I raise my cup to invite the moon.
He and my shadow and I make three.
January 11, 2016
Three T'ang dynasty poets -- Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu -- in English translation. Some of the lovely imagery translates marvelously well.
July 24, 2012
Intense images of ancient verse,
Through three poets who leave souls stirring,
Conjured with lines so sparse,
To drink of more, one was left yearning.
Through three poets who leave souls stirring,
Conjured with lines so sparse,
To drink of more, one was left yearning.
May 19, 2019
I haven't read any poetry and mostly don't understand / appreciate poetry much.
Picked this up because I have read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy and I really liked that book a lot, and the few poems in that book was the first time I appreciated poetry.
Was looking for something to read by Vikram and found this.
It was a good read. Some of the poetry is really great and it gets you through the book. The history of the poets is also quite well written.
Picked this up because I have read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy and I really liked that book a lot, and the few poems in that book was the first time I appreciated poetry.
Was looking for something to read by Vikram and found this.
It was a good read. Some of the poetry is really great and it gets you through the book. The history of the poets is also quite well written.
December 25, 2020
Vikram Seth gave the world some beautiful and thought-provoking Chinese poems of Age-defining poets. Really loved this collection! It couldn't be better. Will be looking forward to read more books by Vikram Seth, this year.
May 23, 2020
I'm really happy this helped me get to know more poets! Can't wait to read more from them
July 17, 2020
Proving how much you're in my thoughts,
Old friend, you've come into my dreams.
-- Du Fu (712-770), from “Dreaming of Li Bai”
.. what am I like ?
A gull between earth and sky.
-- Du Fu (712-770), from “ Thoughts while Travel ling at Night”
Late in my life I only care for quiet.
A million pressing tasks, I let them go.
I look at myself; I have no long range plans.
To go back to the forest is all I know.
-- Wang Wei (699-761), from “In Answer to Vice-Magistrate Zhang"
Like stars that rise when the other has set,
For years we two friends have not met.
How rare it is then that tonight
We once more share the same lamplight.
-- Du Fu (712-770), from “To Wei Ba, who has Lived Away from the Court”
Old friend, you've come into my dreams.
-- Du Fu (712-770), from “Dreaming of Li Bai”
.. what am I like ?
A gull between earth and sky.
-- Du Fu (712-770), from “ Thoughts while Travel ling at Night”
Late in my life I only care for quiet.
A million pressing tasks, I let them go.
I look at myself; I have no long range plans.
To go back to the forest is all I know.
-- Wang Wei (699-761), from “In Answer to Vice-Magistrate Zhang"
Like stars that rise when the other has set,
For years we two friends have not met.
How rare it is then that tonight
We once more share the same lamplight.
-- Du Fu (712-770), from “To Wei Ba, who has Lived Away from the Court”
December 7, 2021
A good collection made better by an introduction that does well in identifying the biographical and stylistic differences between these three artistic contemporaries. I also appreciated the end notes, though they likely should've been numbered in the text itself.
The selection does a good job of drawing out what makes each poet stand out. Your mileage will vary on what you think of the translator's attempt to retain the original rhyme scheme. Does it feel as though it's unnaturally forced into that pattern or that you get a better sense of the original's pace because the rhymes are consistent? I tended toward the former, but it may be that an unrhymed translation would seem more languorous than it ought to.
Anyway, it's a quick read, but don't rush; it's better drunk in sips.
The selection does a good job of drawing out what makes each poet stand out. Your mileage will vary on what you think of the translator's attempt to retain the original rhyme scheme. Does it feel as though it's unnaturally forced into that pattern or that you get a better sense of the original's pace because the rhymes are consistent? I tended toward the former, but it may be that an unrhymed translation would seem more languorous than it ought to.
Anyway, it's a quick read, but don't rush; it's better drunk in sips.
September 29, 2018
Words can hardly describe our thrilled and excited I was to read this book. Mr. Seth believes, as I do, that these three Tang poets are not only great Chinese poets but great poet, period. His introductions and brief bio of each poet serve the reader well. I do not know Chinese so I cannot comment on the translations except that I have read many character by character translations, many transliteration of these poem and many other translations of these poems and find that Mr. Seth has captured, fro me, the deep feelings behind this poetry.....I recommend this book to anyone interested in Chinese poetry, or poetry in general....
July 24, 2017
This was a nice first introduction to Chinese poetry, which I previously knew nothing about. The introduction to the book gives just enough background on Chinese poetry forms, the biographies and styles of the poets in the collection, and the translations choices that you don't feel like your being thrown in the deep end while also not flooding you with information. The poems were short and pleasant to read; my favorites were those of Wang Wei. I'm not enough of a literary scholar to analyze them much more deeply than that.
March 24, 2019
A 1992 volume translated by the novelist Seth is a good introduction
to these three major Chinese ancient poets. He uses rhyme in his
poems and sometimes the sounds are clunky and awkward. But on the
whole, quite enjoyable. A factual intro by the author is helpful to place
these poems in context. Li Bai, "A Song of Qiu-pu." The Qiu-pu shore
teems with white gibbons./ They leap and bounce like flying snow./
They tug their young down from the branches/ To drink and play with
the moonglow." Enjoyable, if short, reading.
to these three major Chinese ancient poets. He uses rhyme in his
poems and sometimes the sounds are clunky and awkward. But on the
whole, quite enjoyable. A factual intro by the author is helpful to place
these poems in context. Li Bai, "A Song of Qiu-pu." The Qiu-pu shore
teems with white gibbons./ They leap and bounce like flying snow./
They tug their young down from the branches/ To drink and play with
the moonglow." Enjoyable, if short, reading.
March 28, 2019
"A pot of wine among the flowers,
I drink alone, no friend with me,
I raise my cup to invite the moon,
He and my shadow and I make three."
I drink alone, no friend with me,
I raise my cup to invite the moon,
He and my shadow and I make three."
April 1, 2020
Wang Wei: Liked the "Lament for Yin Yao".
Li Bai: "Just let me be forever drunk and never be sober again."
Li Bai: "Just let me be forever drunk and never be sober again."
April 6, 2020
These aren’t poems that particularly moved or engaged me. I’m sure some will get lost in them. I’m just not one who did.
June 20, 2023
pretty imagery omg. includes my fave poem ever. beautiful.
Read
December 15, 2023Dog-eared:
"Ballad of the Peach Tree Spring," Wang Wei
"Questions and Answers in the Mountains," Li Bai
"Ballad of the Peach Tree Spring," Wang Wei
"Questions and Answers in the Mountains," Li Bai
October 28, 2024
Du Fu CARRIED
July 25, 2025
A beautiful tribute to three of the greatest poets mankind has produced. Written with great reverence by Vikram Seth.
November 17, 2008
This traslation of Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu is one of the most amazing I've ever read. The introduction describing the time period is alone worth the read. I spent one evening reading it to John after dinner. He describes how the Empress Wu started the requirement of poetry exams for civil servants.
Can you imagine postal employees, police officers, and your city commissioner having to write their own poetry in order to get their jobs? I love this guy. The translations are beautiful and he has a page showing how he translated one poem from Chinese. Masterful, reverent, wonderful! I'll definitely be referring to it again and again.
"I fear yours is no living soul./ How could it make this distant flight? You came: the maple woods were green./ You lft: the pass was black with night." Whew.
Can you imagine postal employees, police officers, and your city commissioner having to write their own poetry in order to get their jobs? I love this guy. The translations are beautiful and he has a page showing how he translated one poem from Chinese. Masterful, reverent, wonderful! I'll definitely be referring to it again and again.
"I fear yours is no living soul./ How could it make this distant flight? You came: the maple woods were green./ You lft: the pass was black with night." Whew.
December 22, 2011
Aside from an introduction with biographies and a few annotations, this book is composed of brief selections from three Tang dynasty poets: Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu. Eighth-century near-contemporaries, the three poets produced some strikingly beautiful verse. Seth’s translation replicates the rhyme, and so tries to translate the assonance as well as the meaning of the poems.
Of the three --- “Buddhist recluse, Taoist immortal, and Confucian sage” respectively, I think I prefer Du Fu’s bleakly realistic moral plaints (“The great are always paid in disuse and neglect”). But Li Bai’s ecstatic odes to life and wine are far from flat: “Cook a sheep, slaughter an ox, and for our further pleasure / Let’s drink three hundred cups of wine down in a single measure... We’ll dissolve the sorrows of a hundred centuries.” Simply beautiful, timeless pieces from twelve hundred years ago
Of the three --- “Buddhist recluse, Taoist immortal, and Confucian sage” respectively, I think I prefer Du Fu’s bleakly realistic moral plaints (“The great are always paid in disuse and neglect”). But Li Bai’s ecstatic odes to life and wine are far from flat: “Cook a sheep, slaughter an ox, and for our further pleasure / Let’s drink three hundred cups of wine down in a single measure... We’ll dissolve the sorrows of a hundred centuries.” Simply beautiful, timeless pieces from twelve hundred years ago
Read
August 31, 2020"Why, Sir, on distant Qinghai shore
The bleached ungathered bones lie year on year.
New ghosts complain, and those who died before
Weep in the wet grey sky, and haunt the ear"
The introduction warned me extensively that most of the poems would be lost in translation, and unfortunately that's the case. They feel beautiful but the only understanding I had was from the notes at the back that gave some context to the poems.
Nonetheless, it's incredible this exists. The fact that Chinese poetry from the 8th century can be read in English is quite amazing. I'm in awe of how literature survives time and space.
On a superficial note, why is the Goodreads cover for this so ugly, mine looks so much more prettier 😂😂
The bleached ungathered bones lie year on year.
New ghosts complain, and those who died before
Weep in the wet grey sky, and haunt the ear"
The introduction warned me extensively that most of the poems would be lost in translation, and unfortunately that's the case. They feel beautiful but the only understanding I had was from the notes at the back that gave some context to the poems.
Nonetheless, it's incredible this exists. The fact that Chinese poetry from the 8th century can be read in English is quite amazing. I'm in awe of how literature survives time and space.
On a superficial note, why is the Goodreads cover for this so ugly, mine looks so much more prettier 😂😂
January 26, 2016
It is an exhilarating introduction to Chinese poetry. For someone like me, who has absolutely no idea about Chinese literature, it is like the entry to a vast treasure. The introduction to the book by Vikram Seth is a joy to read in its own right and gives the poems a context without which a lot of the beauty would have been lost on me. Even now, while some of the poems feel very evocative and others don't, I think it has to do with my lack of understanding of the culture and a natural "Lost in Translation" phenomenon. All in all, a wonderful read.
January 31, 2017
An excellent introduction to Chinese poetry of the Tang dynasty period.The three poets Wang Wei,Li Bai and Du Fu possess different temperaments and styles but their themes of life and death,nature,friendship,solitude and love are universal.The poems possess stunning lyrical beauty.One can only marvel at the immense talent these men seem to command at will.Little wonder that the Tang era is also known as the 'Golden Age' of Chinese poetry.Some of the poems by Wang Wei and Du Fu touched me very deeply and will stay in my heart forever.Thanks Vikram Seth. Salut! :)
April 27, 2013
These are a sample of some of the finest chinese classical poetry and i'm not sure which is better, the poetry itself or the translation by Vikram Seth.
They ask me why I live in the green mountains,
I smile and don't reply; my heart's at ease
Peach Blossims flow downstream, leaving no trace -
And there are other earths and skies than these.
Li Bai
It's the skill of the translator that he can bring a 7th Century Chinese poet alive.
Great poetry, great translation
They ask me why I live in the green mountains,
I smile and don't reply; my heart's at ease
Peach Blossims flow downstream, leaving no trace -
And there are other earths and skies than these.
Li Bai
It's the skill of the translator that he can bring a 7th Century Chinese poet alive.
Great poetry, great translation
January 3, 2017
Good book but I did not enjoy much because I hardly knew the references and I guess the beauty of the poems is lost in translation.The positive side being I gained an insight about Chinese legends and landscape.
March 29, 2010
Excellent, especially for the Wang Wei offerings.
September 24, 2012
A most excellent translation. I don't know if it does justice to the original works but these poems are splendid work in themselves.
April 25, 2013
A moving collection, giving pause and forcing reflection.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews