Five T'ang Poets [Paperback]

Wang Wei (Author), Li Po (Author), Tu Fu (Author), Li Ho (Author), Li Shang-yin (Author), David Young (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1990

Five great poets of the T'ang dynasty (eighth and ninth centuries A.D.) are represented in this collection: Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Li Ho, and Li Shang-Yin. Each poet is introduced by the translator and represented by a selection that spans the poet's development and career. These constitute some of the greatest lyric poems ever written.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Phenomenal. Among a half-dozen publications of poetry which, since 1980, have given me the greatest delight to reread" -- Parnassus

Among Ruins by Li Ho
A Beautiful Girl Combs Her Hair by Li Ho
Big Song by Li Ho
Dawn In Stone City by Li Ho
Finding An Arrowhead On An Old Battlefield by Li Ho
Magic Strings I by Li Ho
Magic Strings Ii by Li Ho
Meditation by Li Ho
Song Of The Screen by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Eighth Moon (october) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Eleventh Moon (january) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Fifth Moon (july) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: First Moon (march) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Fourth Moon (june) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Nineth Moon (november) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Second Moon (april) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Seventh Moon (september) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Sixth Moon (august) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Tenth Moon (december) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Third Moon (may) by Li Ho
Twelve Poems On The Months: Twelfth Moon (february) by Li Ho
Autumn Lines by Li Po
Blue Water Song by Li Po
A Clear Wet Dawn by Li Po
Conversation Amoung Mountains by Li Po
Drinking In Moonlight by Li Po
' Fighting South Of The Ramparts' by Li Po
For Tu Fu by Li Po
Goodbye At The River by Li Po
Grotto Garden by Li Po
High In The Mountains, I Fail To Find The Wise Man by Li Po
Indulgence by Li Po
Listening To The Monk Chun Play His Lute by Li Po
Little Elegy by Li Po
She Thinks Of Him by Li Po
Taking Leave Of A Friend by Li Po
To Wang Lun by Li Po
Waking Up Drunk On A Spring Day by Li Po
Double Poem Of Adultery by Li Shang-yin
Fallen Flowers by Li Shang-yin
In Exile by Li Shang-yin
Letter Home by Li Shang-yin
The Overdecorated Lute by Li Shang-yin
A Riddle And A Gift by Li Shang-yin
Spring Rain by Li Shang-yin
Things I Can't Stand Hearing by Li Shang-yin
Three For The Goddess Of The Moon: 1 by Li Shang-yin
Three For The Goddess Of The Moon: 2 by Li Shang-yin
Three For The Goddess Of The Moon: 3 by Li Shang-yin
Untitled Love Poem: 1 by Li Shang-yin
Untitled Love Poem: 2 by Li Shang-yin
Untitled Love Poem: 3 by Li Shang-yin
Untitled Love Poem: 4 by Li Shang-yin
Untitled Love Poem: 5 by Li Shang-yin
Five Hundred Words About My Journey From The Capital, Sels. by Tu Fu
Five Poems On The Autumn Fields: 1 by Tu Fu
Five Poems On The Autumn Fields: 2 by Tu Fu
Five Poems On The Autumn Fields: 3 by Tu Fu
Five Poems On The Autumn Fields: 4 by Tu Fu
Five Poems On The Autumn Fields: 5 by Tu Fu
For Li Po by Tu Fu
In The City On Business I Meet One Friend by Tu Fu
Meandering River by Tu Fu
A Moonlit Night by Tu Fu
New Moon by Tu Fu
The P'eng-ya Road by Tu Fu
Rain On A Spring Night by Tu Fu
Seven For The Flowers Near The River by Tu Fu
Spring by Tu Fu
Spring Scene by Tu Fu
Thinking Of My Brothers On A Moonlit Night by Tu Fu
Watching Fireflies by Tu Fu
Weary Night by Tu Fu
White Horse by Tu Fu
Autumn Evening In The Mountains by Wang Wei (699-761)
Floating On A Marsh by Wang Wei (699-761)
Late Spring: Mr. Yen And His Friends Come To Visit by Wang Wei (699-761)
My Mount Chungnan Cottage by Wang Wei (699-761)
Passing The Temple Of Accumulated Fragrance by Wang Wei (699-761)
Returning To My Cottage by Wang Wei (699-761)
A Spring Day At The Farm by Wang Wei (699-761)
Spring In The Garden by Wang Wei (699-761)
To Secretary Su by Wang Wei (699-761)
Walking In Mountains In The Rain by Wang Wei (699-761)
Watching It Snow And Thinking Of My Friend, The Hermit Hu by Wang Wei (699-761)
Watching The Hunt by Wang Wei (699-761)
-- Table of Poems from Poem Finder®

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

Product Details

• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: Oberlin College Press (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093244055X
• ISBN-13: 978-0932440556
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding and eminently readable translations, July 8, 2002

By 

Boris Bangemann "boyse" (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five T'ang Poets (Paperback)

"Verses, however masterly, cannot be translated literally from one language into another without losing much of their beauty and dignity." (Bede, English writer and historian, AD 673-735)

For the translator of poetry, and Chinese poetry in particular, the question is: shall I be true to the letter or to the spirit? Usually the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The best translations aim to be true to the spirit without violating the letter more than necessary.

David Young, a poet himself, hopes to be true to the spirit of the five poets from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-906) while at the same time trying to create poetry in a different language and period. The impulse that lies behind his book is to rescue the poets "from the often wooden and dogged versions of the scholars" and to recreate the beauty and dignity of the poetry in a language used by an American poet at the end of the 20th century. The results are marvelously readable, beautiful translations that I enjoyed more than any other translations of Chinese poetry I have read before or since.

Preceding the translations, Young has written a short introduction to each of the poets. These include a discussion of the special qualities of the poets' works and a selection of recommended translations by other English authors.

The five poets represented in this book are (1) Wang Wei, a devout Buddhist and the Chinese poet of landscape par excellence who wrote poems of a deeply religious sensibility; (2) Li Po, the Chinese archetype of the "bohemian artist and puckish wanderer," a poet beloved for his Taoist unconventionality; (3) Tu Fu, China's greatest poet according to a widely held view because of his technical brilliance and "vigorous poetry that manages to transcend unhappiness and melancholy by its enormous range and immense humanity"; (4) Li Ho, a poet usually not ranked with the Big Three because he is too innovative and defies classification; and (5) Li Shang-yin, who has a reputation as a decadent versifier but, as Young shows, is a "human and humane artist who feels deeply and sees deeply into mysteries of our common existence."

One of my favorite poems in this collection is "Returning to my cottage." It is a good example of Wang Wei's ability to capture stillness and movement in a landscape, to balance observations of things distant and close by, and to create from these images an atmosphere of serenity tinged with sadness. It is a good example for David Young's style of translation, too:

A bell in the distance
the sound floats
down the valley

one by one
woodcutters and fishermen
stop work, start home

the mountains move off
into darkness

alone, I turn home
as great clouds beckon
from the horizon

the wind stirs delicate vines
and water chestnut shoots
catkin fluff sails past

in the marsh to the east
new growth
vibrates with color

it's sad
to walk in the house
and shut the door.

Bottom line: This is one of the few anthologies of classical Chinese poetry in which the English versions of the poems really sound like poetry. There is nothing of the stiff formality and awkwardness of most other translations that disable the lyric voice of the verses. These translations are full of the beauty and dignity of the Chinese originals.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MY BROTHER!!!, December 5, 2004

By 

NotATameLion (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Five T'ang Poets (Paperback)

My best friend in this world (outside of my wonderful family) is a guy that I only get to see every few years. He's like the wind. He blows in and out of my life. But he's always in my heart. We are poets.

Being a poet is not a choice. It is a life sentence.

My friend and I are dissimilar in so many ways that it is remarkable that we don't break out in a fight the instant we come into each other's presence. Yet...and yet...

Hearts touched by the flame always find warmth in good company.

Imagine my joy then, at finding a new brother (one from over a thousand years ago) when I picked up this book and met Li Po.

I won't bother you much longer with my words. Instead, let me introduce you to Li Po himself:

Drinking in Moonlight




I sit with my wine jar
among flowers
blossoming trees

no one to drink with

well, there's the moon

I raise my cup
and ask him to join me
bringing my shadow
making us three

but the moon doesn't seem to be drinking
and my shadow creeps around behind me

still, we're companions tonight
me, the moon, and the shadow
we're observing the rites of spring

I sing
and the moon rocks back and forth

I dance
and my shadow tumbles with me

We celebrate for awhile
then go our own ways, drunk

may we meet again someday
in the white river of stars
overhead!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear As Water, A Remarkable Book of Poems, January 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Five T'ang Poets (Paperback)

I first read David Young's amazing translations of these great T'ang poets seventeen years ago, when I was one of his students at Oberlin College in Ohio, and they started me on a lifetime of reading and loving these astonishingly ancient and contemporary sounding poets. There is something vibrantly alive, immediate, and inspiring about these 8th century words and the personalities of their wise, striking authors. In reading many translations, you won't find many as clear and right.