Li Po and Tu Fu
Li Po, a legendary carouser, was an itinerant poet who is unsurpassed in the scope of his fanciful imagination and who soars to sublime heights in his descriptions of natural scenes and powerful emotions. He has been called 'the immortal of poets'. Tu Fu is a more popular poet. His experiences of civil war imbue his work with great compassion and earthy reality, shot through with humour and desolation, as he views everyday life with an artist's insight. Together these two poets of the T'ang...
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Li Po, a legendary carouser, was an itinerant poet who is unsurpassed in the scope of his fanciful imagination and who soars to sublime heights in his descriptions of natural scenes and powerful emotions. He has been called 'the immortal of poets'. Tu Fu is a more popular poet. His experiences of civil war imbue his work with great compassion and earthy reality, shot through with humour and desolation, as he views everyday life with an artist's insight. Together these two poets of the T'ang dynasty cover the whole spectrum of human life and feeling, and are often appropriately referred to as one poet, 'Li-Tu'. Arthur Cooper's excellent introduction chronicles the lives and times of Li Po and Tu Fu, and sets the spiritual, social and aesthetic background to the translations, which are works of poetry in their own right. The Chinese calligraphy in this volume is by Shui Chien-tung.
Acknowledgements9Pronunciation of Chinese Words and Names11Note on the Chinese Calligraphy13Introduction151'Li-Tu'152The Background to their Times203Li Po224Tu Fu375The Background to T'ang Poetry: The Beginnings: The 'Book of Odes', The Language and Script446The Background to T'ang Poetry: The Ch'u Tz'u607The Background to T'ang Poetry: The Ballads and the Principles of Chinese Syllabic Metre628A Demonstration by Ballad659The Approach to Translation in this Book7610The Tones and the 'Chinese Sonnet'8811Reading the Poems in English101Li Po103Tu Fu161List of Titles245Index of First Lines247
