The Selected Poems of Li Po

by Li Po, David Hinton (Translator)

Li Po (AD 701-762) and Tu Fu are traditionally celebrated as the two greatest poets in the Chinese canon. David Hinton's translation of Li Po's poetry is no less an achievement than his critically acclaimed "The Selected Poems of Tu Fu", also published by Anvil. Li Po's work is suffused with Taoism and Zen Buddhism, and the pure lyricism of his poems has awed readers in China and Japan for over a thousand years. Called 'the Banished Immortal', Li Po was seen as an exiled spirit moving through this world with an unearthly ease and freedom from attachment. David Hinton's versions reflect the ambiguity and density of Li Po's originals. They are compelling English poems that alter our conception of Chinese poetry.

Genres: Poetry, China, Classics, Chinese Literature, Fiction, Literature, Asia

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 762

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 5 out of 5]

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). The man knew nature.

And wine. And, unfortunately due to his time in China (701-762), war. But let's focus on the nature and the wine, shall we? It may be all that's left after next week's election.


From the first part of the collection covering the early years:

Something Said, Waking Drunk on a Spring Day

It's like boundless dream here in this
world, nothing anywhere to trouble us.

I have, therefore, been drunk all day,
a shambles of sleep on the front porch.

Coming to, I look into the courtyard.
There's a bird among blossoms calling,

and when I ask what season this is,
an oriole's voice drifts on spring winds.

Overcome, verging on sorrow and lament,
I pour another drink. Soon, awaiting

this bright moon, I'm chanting a song.
And now it's over, I've forgotten why.


And from his middle years:

Listening to a Monk's Ch'in Depths

Carrying a ch'in cased in green silk, a monk
descended from O-mei Mountain in the west.

When he plays, even in a few first notes,
I hear the pines of ten thousand valleys,

and streams rinse my wanderer's heart clean.
Echoes linger among temple frost-fall bells,

night coming unnoticed in emerald mountains,
autumn clouds banked up, gone dark and deep.


And from his later years:

Starting Up Three Gorges

Azure heaven pinched between Wu Mountains,
riverwater keeps streaming down like this,

and with riverwater cascading so suddenly
away, we'll never reach that azure heaven.

Three mornings we start up Huang-niu Gorge,
and three nights find we've gone nowhere.

Three mornings and three nights: for once
I've forgotten my hair turning white as silk.

[sarah]

This book is just him drinking alone, going on hikes, meeting friends, drinking with friends, talking abt how beautiful the moon is, drinking under the moon, autumn, drinking some more, and I respect that. Some choice titles include 'Drinking Under The Moon', 'Drinking Alone', 'Drinking on Dragon Mountain', 'Drinking Alone' on a Spring Day', 'Drinking in the Mountains With A Recluse', 'Waking Drunk on Spring Day'.

Also, from the introduction:
“It may be just as well, for the legend Li Po made of himself is more consistent and compelling if he remains, like the moon, an enduring mystery. Whatever actually happened at Li Yang-ping’s house in the winter of 762, Li Po died as the legend says he died: out drunk in a boat, he fell into a river and drowned trying to embrace the moon.”

[Peycho Kanev · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FRIEND STAYS THE NIGHT

Rinsing sorrows of a thousand forevers
away, we linger out a hundred jars of wine,

the clear night’s clarity filling small talk,
a lucid moon keeping us awake. And after

we’re drunk, we sleep in empty mountains,
all heaven our blanket, earth our pillow.

[Neil McCrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I return to Li Po often. He is as important to me as anyone in my literary pantheon. 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.

really, the following is all you need to know:

Alone and Drinking Under the Moon

Amongst the flowers I
am alone with my pot of wine
drinking by myself; then lifting
my cup I asked the moon
to drink with me, its reflection
and mine in the wine cup, just
the three of us; then I sigh
for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along
with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can
but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I
too must be happy with all
around me; I sit and sing
and it is as if the moon
accompanies me; then if I
dance, it is my shadow that
dances along with me; while
still not drunk, I am glad
to make the moon and my shadow
into friends, but then when
I have drunk too much, we
all part; yet these are
friends I can always count on
these who have no emotion
whatsoever; I hope that one day
we three will meet again,
deep in the Milky Way.

-Li Po

[Robert Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

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



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. At its commencement Chang'an (modern Xian) its capital with over one million inhabitants was the largest city on the face of the Earth and a vibrant cosmopolitan cultural center at the Eastern end of the Eurasian "Silk Road" when Europe had declined into the fragmented "Dark Ages" of the post-Roman Empire feudal era and the "Islamic Golden Age" of the Abbasid Caliphate was just beginning to rise to rival it with the construction of its new and flourishing capital at Baghdad. China itself had suffered a similar fragmentation and decline with the fall of the Han Dynasty, equal in scope and splendor to the contemporaneous Roman Empire, but with the comparative difference that Tang China had acheived reunification while Europe remained disunited and had lost much of its Classical Greek and Roman heritage, only to be recovered with the Renaissance. Tang Dynasty China by contrast was in a condition of dynamic cultural growth and innovation, having both retained its Classical heritage of Confucianism and Taoism but also assimilated the new spiritual energy of the rise of Buddhism, at the same time the European world assimilated the spiritual influence of Christianity and the Muslim world that of Islam.

Into this context were born four men of poetic genius who in the Oriental world would come to occupy a place in World Literature comparable to the great names of Dante and Shakespeare: Li Bai (Li Po), Du Fu (Tu Fu), Wang Wei and Bai Juyi. All of these geniuses were influenced by the three great cultural heritages of China: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, just as Western writers such as Dante and Shakespeare were influenced by the three dominant Western Heritages of Greek Socratic rationalism, Roman law and social duty and Christian spirituality and moral cultivation. It was during the Tang Dynasty that Chinese culture became fully Buddhist, especially with the translations of Buddhist Scripture brough back from India by Xuanzong, the famous monk-traveller celebrated in the "Journey to the West." Each poet was influenced by all three heritages, but with perhaps one heritage on the ascendant in each man in accordance with his temperament and worldview, with Du Fu emphasizing the social conscience and duty of Confucianism in his poetry, Li Bai the free spirit and dynamic natural balances of Taoism, and Wang Wei and Bai Juyi emphasizing the Buddhist ethos of detachment from this world and overcoming desire in quest of spiritual enlightenment.



THE GLORIOUS TANG DYNASTY---HIGH POINT OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION


The Tang Dynasty, with its capital at Chang'an, then the most populous city in the world, is generally regarded as a high point in Chinese civilization—equal to, or surpassing that of, the earlier Han Dynasty—a Second Golden Age of cosmopolitan culture. Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han Dynasty. In censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population at about 50 million people, rising by the 9th century to perhaps about 80 million people, though considerably reduced by the convulsions of the An Lu Shan Rebellion, making it the largest political entity in the world at the time, surpassing the earlier Han Dynasty's probable 60 million and the contemporaneous Abbasid Caliphate's probable 50 milliion and even rivaling the Roman Empire at its height, which at the time of Trajan in 117 AD was estimated at 88 million. Such massive populations, economic and cultural resources would not be matched until the rise of the nations and empires of the modern era.

With its large population and economic base, the dynasty was able to support a large proportion of its population devoted to cultural accompishments as well as a government, Civil Service administration, scholarly schools and examinations, and raise professional and conscripted armies of hundreds of thousands of troops to contend with nomadic powers in dominating Inner Asia and the lucrative trade routes along the Silk Road. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, and were indirectly controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful cultural influence over neighboring states such Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, with much of Japanese culture, government, literature and religion finding its model and origin in Tang Dynasty China.

In this global Medieval Era we can say with fairness that while Europe went into fragmentation and decline until the Renaissance the two pre-eminent centers of world civilization were Chang'an of the Tang Empire and Baghdad of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Islamic Golden Age. Two incidents characterize the interaction of these two Medieval "Superpowers," and also affected literary production of the age: The Battle of Talas and the An Lu Shan Rebellion. The Battle of Talas of 751 AD was the collision of the two expanding superpowers, the Tang and the Abbasid Muslims, which in the defeat of the Tang Empire's armies resulted first in the halt of its expansion along the Silk Road towards the Middle-East, and secondly, in the important transfer of Chinese paper-making technology through captured artisans from China to the Arabs, an important factor fueling the Islamic Golden Age and its literature. The An Lu Shan Rebellion, arising out of the doomed love affair of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong and the Imperial Concubine Yang Gui Fei disrupted all of China, perhaps causing the deaths of 20-30 million people, and affecting the personal lives and writings of all the poets including Li Bai, Wang Wei and Du Fu. It also was the occasion of the Abbasid Caliph sending 4000 cavalry troops to help the Tang Emperor suppress the rebellion, a force that permanently settled in China and became a catalyst for growth of the Muslim population in China and Muslim-Tang cultural interpenetration along the Silk Road. It also became the subject of the Tang poet Bai Juyi's immortal epic of the Emperor, the Rebellion and the tragic death of the beautiful Imperial Concubine, Yang Gui Fei in "The Song of Everlasting Sorrow."


THE COALESCING OF THE CONFUCIAN, TAOIST AND BUDDHIST WORLDS: THE PARABLE OF THE THREE VINEGAR TASTERS


The Parable of "The Three Vinegar Tasters" is a traditional subject in Chinese religious painting. and poetry. The allegorical composition depicts the three founders of China's major religious and philosophical traditions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. The theme in the painting has been variously interpreted as affirming the harmony and unity of the three faiths and traditions of China or as favoring Taoism relative to the others.


The three sages of the tale are dipping their fingers in a vat of vinegar and tasting it; one man reacts with a sour expression, one reacts with a bitter expression, and one reacts with a sweet expression. The three men are Confucius, Buddha, and Lao Zi, respectively. Each man's expression represents the predominant attitude of his religion and ethos: Confucianism saw life as sour, in need of rules, ritual and restraint to correct the degeneration of the people; Buddhism saw life as bitter, dominated by pain and suffering, slavery to desire and the false illusion of Maya; and Taoism saw life as fundamentally good in its natural state. Another interpretation of the painting is that, since the three men are gathered around one vat of vinegar, the "three teachings" are one.


CONFUCIANISM

Confucianism saw life as sour, in need of rules, social discipline and restraint to correct the degeneration of people; the present was out of step with a more "golden" past and that the government had no understanding of the way of the universe—the right response was to worship the ancestors, purify and support tradition, instil ethical understanding, and strengthen social and family bonds. Confucianism, being concerned with the outside world, thus viewed the "vinegar of life" as "adulterated wine" needing social cleansing.


BUDDHISM

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who first pursued then rejected philosophy and asceticism before discovering enlightenment through meditation. He concluded that we are bound to the cycles of life and death because of tanha (desire, thirst, craving). During Buddha's first sermon he preached, "neither the extreme of indulgence nor the extremes of asceticism was acceptable as a way of life and that one should avoid extremes and seek to live in the Middle Way". "Thus the goal of basic Buddhist practice is not the immediate achievement of a state of "Nirvana" or bliss in some heaven but the extinguishing of tanha, or desire leading to fatal illusion. When tanha is extinguished, one is released from the cycle of life---birth, suffering, death, and rebirth---only then can one achieve Nirvana.

One interpretation is that Buddhism, being concerned with the self, viewed the vinegar as a polluter of the taster's body due to its extreme flavor. Another interpretation for the image is that Buddhism reports the facts are as they are, that vinegar is vinegar and isn't naturally sweet on the tongue. Trying to make it sweet is ignoring what it is, pretending it is sweet---living for illusion or Maya---is denying what it is, while the equally harmful opposite is being overly disturbed by the sourness. Detachment, reason and moderation are thus required.

TAOISM

Taoism saw life as fundamentally good in its natural state.
From the Taoist point of view, sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet, despite its occasional sourness and bitterness. In "The Vinegar Tasters" Lao Zi's (Lao Tzu) expression is sweet because of how the religious teachings of Taoism view the world. Every natural thing is intrinsically good as long as it remains true to its nature. This perspective allows Lao Zi to experience the taste of vinegar without judging it, knowing that nature will restore its own balance transcending any extreme, via Yin and Yang and "The Dao," the underlying Supreme Creative Dialectic driving all things and human experiences.




LI BAI (LI PO), SUPREME TANG DYNASTY LYRICIST AND TAOIST ADEPT




Li Bai (701-762) came from an obscure, possibly Turkish background and unlike other Tang poets did not attempt to take the Imperial Examination to become a scholar-official. He was infamous for his exuberant drunkenness, hard partying and "bad boy" romantic lifestyle. In his writing he chose freer forms closer to the folk songs and natural voice, though laced with playful fancy, as in the famous example of his lyric conversations with the moon. He frequented Taoist temples and echoed the Taoist embrace of the natural human emotions and feelings; that connection got him an appointment to the Imperial Court, but his misbehaviour soon ended in his dismissal. Nonetheless, he became famous and invited into the best circles to recite his works. He emphasized spontanaeity and freedom of expression in his works, yet created works of extraordinary depth of feeling:


Drinking Alone With the Moon

A pot of wine amoung 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.

The moon does not know how to drink;
My shadow mimes my capering;
But I'll make merry with them both---
And soon enough it will be Spring.

I sing--the moon moves to and fro.
I dance--my shadow leaps and sways.
Still sober, we exchange our joys.
Drunk--and we'll go our separate ways.

Let's pledge---beyond human ties---to be friends,
And meet where the Silver River ends.



Popular legend has it that Li Bai died in such a drunken fit, carousing alone on a boat on a like, when he, drunk, leaned overboard to embrace the reflecion of the moon in the waters, and drowned.



DU FU---SUPREME POET OF SOCIAL CONSCIENCE AND ENLIGHTENED CONFUCIAN SPIRIT


Du Fu (712-770) was the grandson of a famous court poet, and took the Imperial Examination twice, but faied both times. His talent for poetry became known to the emperor, however, who arranged a special examination to allow his admittance as a court scholar-official. His outspoken social conscience, denunciation of injustice and insistence on following the pure ideals of Confucianism however, alienated higher officials and his career was confined to minor posts in remote provinces, and his travels and observations were often the occasion of his poetry. He acutely rendered human suffering, particularly of the common people, and his stylistic complexity and excellence made him the "poet's poet" as well as the "people's poet" for centures, as exemplified in his famous "Ballad of the Army Carts:"


Ballad of the Army Carts


Carts rattle and squeak,
Horses snort and neigh---
Bows and arrows at their waists, the conscripts march away.
Fathers, mothers, children, wives run to say good-bye.
The Xianyang Bridge in clouds of dust is hidden from the eye.
They tug at them and stamp their feet, weep, and obstruct their way.
The weeping rises to the sky.
Along the road a passer-by
Questions the conscripts. They reply:

They mobilize us constantly. Sent northwards at fifteen
To guard the River, we were forced once more to volunteer,
Though we are forty now, to man the western front this year.
The headman tied our headcloths for us when we first left here.
We came back white-haired---to be sent again to the frontier.
Those frontier posts could fill the sea with the blood of those who've died.
In county after county to the east, Sir, don't you know,
In villiage after villiage only thorns and brambles grow.
Even if there's a sturdy wife to wield the plough and hoe,
The borders of the fields have merged, you can't tell east from west.
It's worse still for the men from Qin, as fighters they're the best--
And so, like chickens or like dogs they're driven to and fro.

Though you are kind enough to ask,
Dare we complain about our task?
Take, Sir, this winter. In Guanxi
The troops have not yet been set free.
The district officers come to press
The land tax from us nonetheless.
But, Sir, how can we possibly pay?
Having a son's a curse today.
Far better to have daughters, get them married---
A son will lie lost in the grass, unburied.
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 gray sky and haunt the ear.




WANG WEI--SCHOLAR-OFFICIAL, "RENAISSANCE MAN" AND BUDDHIST POET



Wang Wei was one of the most prominent poets of the Tang Dynasty, but also a famous painter, calligrapher and musician. He hailed from a distinguished scholar family, passed the highest Imperial Examination with honors and worked his way up the bureaucratic heirarchy, often assuming posts in far-away provinces. His poems displayed the high court poetic style--witty, urbane and impersonal, reinforced by the Buddhist detachment and equanimity of his religious beliefs. He became influential at the royal court until being captured in the An Lu Shan Rebellion, he was forced to work for the usurping Emperor, then punished by the reinstated Emperor. In accordance with Chan (Zen) Buddhism his work reflects the detached and melancholy view of transitory life seen as illusion. His official travels involving years of absence or threatened death far from home were often the occasion of many of of his poems:


Farewell to Yuan the Second on His Mission to Anxi

In Wei City mornibng rain dampens the light dust.
By the travelers' lodge, green upon green---the willows color is new.
I urge you to drink up yet another glass of wine:
Going west from Yang Pass, there are no old friends.





BAI JUYI (BO JUYI), AUTHOR OF THE "SONG OF EVERLASTING SORROW," TALE OF THE DOOMED LOVE OF THE EMPEROR XUANZONG AND THE BEAUTIFUL IMPERIAL CONCUBINE YANG GUI FEI




Bai Juyi (772-846) of a later generation from the other three poets, passed the Imperial Examination with honors and served in a variety of posts. He, like Du Fu, took seriously the Confucian mandate to employ poetry as vehicle for social and political protest against injustice. He also, like Bai Juyi, tried to simplify and make more natural and accessible his poetic voice, drawing closer to the people. His most immortal classic is the "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" which presents in verse the epic tragic tale of the great love affair between Emperor Xuanzong and his Imperial Concubine, Yang Gui Fei, reminiscent of the tragedy of Romeo an Juliet, which ended during the An Lu Shan Rebellion as the army accused her of distracting the Emperor from his duties and corruption and demanded her death. The poem relates how the Emperor sent a Taoist priest to find his dead lover in heaven and convey his devotion to her and her answer:

"Our souls belong together," she said, "like this gold and this shell--
Somewhere, sometime, on earth or in heaven, we shall surely meet."
And she sent him, by his messenger, a sentence reminding him
Of vows which had been known only to their two hearts:
"On the seventh day of the Seventh-month, in the Palace of Long Life,
We told each other secretly in the quiet midnight world
That we wished to fly in heaven, two birds with the wings of one,
And to grow together on the earth, two branches of one tree."...
Earth endures, heaven endures; sometime both shall end,
While this unending sorrow goes on and on forever.




SPIRITUS MUNDI AND CHINESE LITERATURE




My own work, Spiritus Mundi, the contemporary epic of social idealism featuring the struggle of global idealists to establish a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly for global democracy and to head off a threatened WWIII in the Middle-East also reflects the theme of the Confucian ethic that literature should contribute to social justice and public morality. Like Du Fu it abhors the waste, suffering, social irresponsibility and stupidity of war. Like Li Bai it celebrates the life of nature and human emotions, including sexuality. About a quarter of the novel is set in China, and one of its principal themes is a renewal of spirituality across the globe.


World Literature Forum invites you to check out the great Chinese Tang Dynasty poetic masterpieces of World Literature, and also the contemporary epic novel Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard. For a fuller discussion of the concept of World Literature you are invited to look into the extended discussion in the new book Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard, one of the principal themes of which is the emergence and evolution of World Literature:


For Discussions on World Literature and n Literary Criticism in Spiritus Mundi: http://worldliteratureandliterarycrit...


Robert Sheppard


Editor-in-Chief
World Literature Forum
Author, Spiritus Mundi Novel
Author’s Blog: http://robertalexandersheppard.wordpr...
Spiritus Mundi on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
Spiritus Mundi on Amazon, Book I: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIGJFGO
Spiritus Mundi, Book II: The Romance http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG


Copyright Robert Sheppard 2013 All Rights Reserve

[Crito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old pine, what have you learned? Cold,
cold and desolate— who’s your song for?

[William Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challenge librero #5

Para ser mi primer poemario asiático todo muy lúcido y bueno. Recomiendo al poeta. Plus: sus mejores versos los redactó alcohólico XD

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Li Po died drunk while trying to have sex with the moon, so he's an intriguing fellow from the get-go. Drunken attempts at moon-fucking cannot but a great poet make. One of China's singular, peculiar figures in that land's poetic tradition, Li is steeped in drunkenness and the idea of spontaneity in the face of institutional strictures, whether it be poetry, government, or sobriety. To live as part of the natural process of the world, as an extension of nature (hence the moon molestation?), is the idea at the core of Li's poetry.

[Eadweard · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Autumn wind clear,

autumn moon bright,

fallen leaves gather in piles,

then scatter,

and crows settling-in,

cold, startle away.

Will we ever see,

ever even think of each other again?

This night, this moment: impossible to feel it all"

[s · Rating 5 out of 5]

i could take off a star for how often certain images appear (the moon, wine, spring, autumn, and the word emerald were endless) yet i honestly do not mind. these are just too lovely—perfect for calming the restless mind. i enjoyed them so much <3

[jonathan perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s like boundless dream here in this world, nothing anywhere to trouble us.
I have, therefore, been drunk all day,
a shambles of sleep on the front porch.
Coming to, I look into the courtyard. There’s a bird among blossoms calling,
and when I ask what season this is,
an oriole’s voice drifts on spring winds.
Overcome, verging on sorrow and lament, I pour another drink. Soon, awaiting
this bright moon, I’m chanting a song. And now it’s over, I’ve forgotten why.

Yeah, Li Po is that guy

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars; some gems here, between a lot of so-so poetry;

"A SUMMER DAY IN THE MOUNTAINS"

Flourishing a white-feather fan lazily,
I go naked in green forests.

Soon, I’ve hung my cap on a cliff,
set my hair loose among pine winds.


"THOUGHTS IN NIGHT QUIET"

Seeing moonlight here at my bed,
and thinking it’s frost on the ground,

I look up, gaze at the mountain moon,
then back, dreaming of my old home.

[Bri Bloom · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5) i loved this. the foreword was so cool and i loved learning about li po’s life. this book was truly him on a continuous adventure, drinking wine, and reminiscing on his time with his friends and wives. so beautiful, makes sense how this has standed the test of time!

[Helen McClory · Rating 4 out of 5]

meditative, gentle. Best read while sitting somewhere that allows for the quiet expansion of an image

[AB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divine poetry

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Legend says that Li Bai (Li Po) drowned by trying to embrace the reflection of the moon on the water. Since he lived in the 8th century CE, we won't ever know how true this is, but it's a pretty great story, and not necessarily a bad way to go, all things considered 🌚

Li Bai wrote hundreds of poems, and this volume was a delight to read. I marked several pages and have returned several times to reread already. He's essentially a happy drunk hiking through the countryside and writing poems about what he sees and who he talks to.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loves wine, nature, the river, his pals, and writes with a clarity that about bowls you over.

[Aaron Freedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have tried very hard to enjoy poetry to the degree that others do, so far I have not succeeded. Personally, I would give this book two stars, but objectively I think it deserves at least four stars (not that I'm the best judge). Li Po's poems are really great at giving an insight into the past and what life was like. These poems also are very successful at giving a sense of beauty in the environment and the other topics. They convey a variety of different emotions very well, such as loneliness at the departure of a friend or over, as well as passion when talking about what seems to have been Li Po's main hobby, drinking. Overall, the book is a good read for any poetry fans or someone like me who would just like to learn more about authentic ancient Chinese poetry.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Li Po is an excellent Tang dynasty poet who liked to drink too much and then write verse. He was a real "carpe diem" type of guy who became popular in the West when Ezra Pound translated his verse around 1918. Although he allegedly drowned in the Yangtze River after stepping out of a boat to hug the moon, more likely he was poisoned by sipping mercury as a Taoist elixir to gain eternal life. Oh well, at least he wrote some good poems.

[Gareth Reeves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I need to read another translation. This one, by David Hinton, occasionally works (e.g., 'War South of the Great Wall') but more often sounds banal and empty. Am I reading New-Age hippy bullsh*t or one of the greatest Chinese poets that ever wrote? - was the question that irked me throughout. Still, I'm interested enough to reread Li Po, so this edition must have done something right.

[Jacq · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply love Li Po. What more can I say?

[Steve Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book of poetry gave me more blissful shivers per page than anything else I've read.

[Markus · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Ahhhh good poetry

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

read them in Hebrew translated by Dan Daor who was the greatest translator from chinese and great friend

[Rodrigo Domínguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fuck, I wish I could read Chinese

[Mary Soon Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Born some 1300-odd years ago, Li Bai (transliterated in this instance as Li Po) is one of the most celebrated Chinese poets and my favorite of those I've read. So I am very grateful to have this translated selection of his poems. Yet it disappointed me in several ways.

Firstly, even though I don't read Chinese, I missed seeing the Chinese originals alongside the translations. Perhaps I've been spoiled by some of the other translations of Chinese poetry that I've read of late.

Secondly, there are helpful notes for approximately a quarter of the poems, but I would have appreciated accompanying notes for every one of the poems. Across a space of 1300 years, and a considerable cultural and linguistic gap, notes can provide valuable context. (Again, I may have been spoiled by other translations of Chinese poems.) In addition, the notes are parceled away at the back of the book, which resulted in my flicking back and forth.

Lastly but most importantly, I didn't especially warm to David Hinton's translations. Not knowing Chinese, I can't speak to their accuracy. But as poetry, they move me less than they might. This is clearly subjective and other readers may disagree. I still liked many of Hinton's versions, it's just that I liked them *less* than other ones I've read. Here, for example, is Hinton's translation of one of the most famous of all classical Chinese poems.

Thoughts in Night Quiet

Seeing moonlight here at my bed,
and thinking it's frost on the ground,

I look up, gaze at the mountain moon,
then back, dreaming of my old home.

A fine poem, effective despite its brevity, but I prefer Keith Holyoak's rendition from Facing the Moon: Poems of Li Bai and Du Fu.

Quiet Night Thoughts

In front of my bed
moonlight is shining down --
I thought it was frost
shimmering on the ground.

Lifting my head
I watch the bright moon;
lowering my head
I miss my northern home.

And I also prefer Red Pine's translation from Poems of the Masters: China's Classic Anthology of T'ang and Sung Dynasty Verse.

Thoughts on a Quiet Night

Before my bed the light is so bright
it looks like a layer of frost
lifting my head I gaze at the moon
lying back down I think of home.

On the plus side, I prefer Hinton's version to the one rhymed version that I've read! It isn't that there's a vast gap between the three versions above, it's just that, for me, the Hinton one is flatter, less moving.

To balance the above gripes, I do -- very much -- appreciate having this selection available in English, and I enjoyed it. Recommended with reservations.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

[Richard Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

The more I read this, the more it bugged me.

I usually like Li Po, having read his poetry in a couple different collections, but I really didn't like the translation in this one. It just didn't work for me. The rhythm came to grate on me, and I liked it less every page I turned. I hate-read the last 20 pages.

(I seldom give a negative or harsh review, but I feel free saying this because so many people like this translation, and the guy has won translation awards. He'll be fine. I can be a random data point way over on the edge that everyone can just ignore...)

Thing is, I was really looking forward to this. Thought I was gonna love it. But it's all translated in a terse, elliptical, sentence-fragment way. It's stingy with verbs and connecting words like articles and prepositions. It was a stylistic choice; I think it's meant to more nearly resemble the original Chinese than is often the case, and for other readers I guess it paid off. But I found it hard to read and hard to connect to. I'd get stuck on top-heavy sentences, looking for the verb that sometimes never showed up, and I'd have to re-read and re-parse every line. It wasn't intuitive or simple, and the struggle took me out of the poetry.

Like this. Take a look. These are lovely images, but the translation is so angular, so sharp:

Heaven temple, Shui-hsi Monastery:
east wall lit beneath cloud brocade,
sounds of a clear stream tumbling past,
green bamboo harboring tower rooms.

I'm totally ready to dig this, but it feels like a poem made of dry sticks tied with a string.

Another poem begins this way:

War last year at the Sang-kan's headwaters;
war this year on the roads at T'sung River.

And another:

Thoughts of you unending
here in Ch'ang-an,
crickets where the well mirrors year-end golds cry out
autumn, and under a thin frost, mats look cold, ice-cold.

I mean, at least there's a verb there at the end, finally. I was pretty psyched. But it's dense, and that crickets line seems to have no beginning or end, just a lot of middle...

Anyway. Whatever. I'm sure it's my bad. Everybody else thinks it's awesome.

I've found another collection with a different translator. Fingers crossed.

[Isaiah Qualls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wildly profound and exceptionally beautiful. Li Po was a genius, a man of nature, a philosopher, and a walker of light. His work is amazing and it is the type of writing that you can refer back to countless times, discovering more, and more insights each and every time. His work is timeless, as he uses nature as a vehicle to help us further understand about what it means to be alive and to live in harmony with the universe around us. Despite Li Po's work taking place centuries ago, the insights are timeless, and I found myself reflecting on my life many times.

Stylistically, Li Po's work is very straightforward, but also dense in the sense that he describes how different beautiful, and everlasting concepts are interwoven. I found myself wanting to read the book in the original language it was written just to see how his writing differs, because I'm sure that it's even better. Li Po brings a light energy to unforgiving times as he navigates the world around him, finding fun within what others would describe as adverse or mundane. Through his writing, it is clear that Li Po is a beautiful example of what it means to walk with the divine.

There is also specs of love poetry sprinkled throughout Li Po's work. Where he describes his love in a mysterious, and reflective way. I found it very relatable as I read about his journey through love, longing, and the search for everlasting comfort within someone else.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this has officially become one of my favorite collections of writing I ever read. I sent some of my poems to an old college, creative writing teacher of mine, and he told me my work reminded him of Li Po. I was intrigued because I had never heard of the this ancient Chinese poet before.

There is a resemblance between his work and mine. There’s a strong spiritual natures within these verses, the yearning of wind—the awe of mountains. He also seems to enjoy writing of wine, and nights spent in drunken revelry.

This poetry has filled a hole in my heart I didn’t know I had. He ages throughout the collection of poetry, to a old man with white hair... He’s had his share of grief, joy, yet you see Nirvana within this poet’s eyes that he blesses you the reader with too, exceptional stuff.