Poems of the Late T'ang (Unesco Collection of Representative Works :, Chinese Series) [Paperback]

Various (Author), A. C. Graham (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Unesco Collection of Representative Works :, Chinese Series

A collection of Chinese poetry from the late T'ang dynasty, beginning with the last poems of China's greatest poet, Tu Fu (AD 712-70), and ending with Li Shang-yin (AD 812-58).

Editorial Reviews

Review

“You never forget the moment you first encounter a book that turns out to be a treasure for life. Especially works that open up new worlds. I still remember buying Penguin's wonderful Late Tang Poetry at school…” –Michael Wood, The Independent [UK]

“The publication of Dr. Graham’s Poems of the Late T’ang…is a welcome sign of the growing interest in Chinese poetry on the part of English-speaking readers and of the growing sophistication on the part of English-speaking readers and of the growing sophistication on the part of translators of Chinese poetry.” –Journal of the American Oriental Society

“Angus Graham…was the West’s chief authority on ancient Chinese philosophy and grammar. He was the sinologue’s sinologue in the sense that he understood the classical texts better than anyone else, but he was also a sensitive interpreter of poetry and philosophy for a general audience…His translations of poetry seem to have been written for pure pleasure, but include some of the most difficult as well as the most beautiful Chinese poems.” –The Guardian [UK]

“Angus Graham was widely recognized as the world’s premier authority on classical philosophy and linguistics, as well as a gifted translator of philosophy and poetry and a prominent exponent of the ancient Chinese view of life to the Western world.” –The Times [UK]

A "pioneering introduction.” –The Irish Times

“Isn't A. C. Graham's Poems of the Late T'ang...a perfect book?” –The Times [UK] --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English, Chinese (translation)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (December 8, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140441573
• ISBN-13: 978-0140441574
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,566,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb anthology by a brilliant translator., September 4, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Poems of the Late T'ang (Unesco Collection of Representative Works :, Chinese Series) (Paperback)

POEMS OF THE LATE T'ANG : Translated with an Introduction by A. C. Graham. 176 pp. (Penguin Classics). Harmondsworth : Penguin, 1970 (1965) and Reissued.

Translators of Chinese poetry tend to be of various kinds. On the one hand we have important poets such as Ezra Pound, Gary Snyder and Kenneth Rexroth, men who though perhaps not expert in Chinese were certainly conversant with it in various degrees and who have given us some truly striking and memorable translations.

There are also brilliant scholar-translators such as Arthur Waley, Burton Watson, and the author of the present book, A. C. Graham, men both expert in Chinese and artists in words whose versions can be equally impressive.

A. C. Graham, author of the present book and of such major works of scholarship as 'Chuang-Tzu : The Inner Chapters' (1981) and 'Disputers of the Tao' (1989) is generally reckoned, not without justice, to be one of the modern West's three greatest translators of Chinese poetry.

His book, after an extremely interesting 23-page essay on 'The Translation of Chinese Poetry,' offers us selections from seven major poets : Tu Fu, Meng Chiao, Han Yu, Lu T'ung, Li Ho, Tu Mu, and Li Shang-yin. Each of the poets is given a brief introduction, and the book ends with a useful list of references to the pages on which the original texts of the poems will be found in the 'Ch'uan T'ang shih' [Complete T'ang Poems] Peking, 1960.

'Poems of the Late T'ang' is one of my favorite books and I've often returned to it. All of Graham's versions read and work like original poems - their lines remain in the mind and become part of you - lines such as Meng Chiao's :

"Who will say that the inch of grass in his heart / Is gratitude enough for all the sunshine of spring ? " (p.63)

Personally I think that A. C. Graham deserves considerably more than an 'inch of grass in our hearts' for having instilled new life into the words of these ancient poets and given us such a superb book, a book that is deservedly considered a modern classic and one that belongs in the collection of anyone who is at all interested in Chinese poetry.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars autumn hills and spring rain, June 26, 2008

By 

Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poems of the Late T'ang (New York Review Books Classics) (Paperback)

Reading poetry in translation is always a dubious activity, but what recourse do we have since obviously we can't learn every language ? When two languages as unlike as Chinese and English are concerned, there's a very real question. Are you reading the translator's poetry or the original poet's ? Back in the 1960s, when I bought this book as a graduate student, A.C. Graham did an excellent job explaining just what translating centuries-old Chinese poetry involved. For anyone interested in the translation process, the first part of this book would be well-worth reading. As for the translated material, no doubt the Chinese poetry of the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. is one of Mankind's great treasures. Readers cannot fail to be struck at the common emotions we have, shared with people of such distant time and place. How you finally estimate the book depends on whether you like the translations, for such efforts produce widely varied results. After reading this book, you might try some of Arthur Waley's work. You'll definitely feel a difference. It seemed to me that Graham tries to be more faithful to the original; Waley tries to make you feel the "poetry" of the poems. Both are successful in their own way. The nature of China dominates the imagery---mountains, rivers, clouds, seasons; human emotion sways in time to nature's beat. What will modern Chinese poetry look like amongst the forests of skyscrapers, the industries, the superhighways ? I think it must become more personal. I have no idea if it has.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A never-ending delightful reading, May 30, 2010

By 

Laugee "Jacac" (Chatou, France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Poems of the Late T'ang (Mass Market Paperback)

30 years ago, I fell upon this book during a visit to the British Museum
It entranced me so much that I engaged myself in learning chinese for the pleasure to catch the original flavor of these concise and overwhelming texts
That was the beginning of a never-ending interest for the chinese arts, and other asia-pacific cultures
Over the years, I moved to places, leaving what I did not really need but this particular book is still with me

A fully-enjoyable and refreshing reading by the poetic sincerity of so unexpressed feelings