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Three Tang Dynasty Poets by Li Po, Tu Fu, Wang Wei

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joyceontheroad's review

3.0

Enjoyed it, but couldn’t be too invested

A small and beautiful collection of Chinese poetry. My favorite poems were "Marble Stairs Grievance" by Li Bai on page 23, and "Night Thoughts Afloat" by Du Fu on page 51. The book reads like a circle, with the short story at the end of the book providing the inspiration for the first poem in the collection.

alanffm's review

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4.0

This short collection of works by three Tang Dynasty poets was refreshing. You can really hear the suffering and beauty of each poet's depiction of life in 8th century China through this wonderful translation.

shahwar_18's review

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0.5

Shitposts.

ricksilva's review

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

From Penguin's Little Black Classics collection of mini-books. This edition samples the work of three Tang Dynasty (8th Century) poets, Wang Wei, Li Po, and Tu Fu. It also includes a short story by T'ao Ch'ien, which served as the inspiration for the first poem in the book, Wang Wei's "Song of the Peach Tree Spring". I really enjoyed this combination of story and poem, which tells of a mysterious lost valley cut off from the rest of Chinese civilization, with a bit of a fantasy element to it.

All three poets lean heavily into nature imagery, especially seasonal and river images. The poems touch on a range of themes, with Li Po's "The Ballad of Ch'ang-Kan" telling of the loneliness of a sailor's wife who married young, and Tu Fu addressing themes of war in "Lament by the Riverside" and and an excerpt from "The Journey North: The Homecoming".

This suffered a bit from the limitations of space: Three poets with extensive works crammed into one small volume isn't really doing any of them the full justice they deserve, but as a sampler of traditional Chinese poetry, this is at least a good starting point.