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A Lute of Jade: Selections from the Classical Poets of China
Introduction
The Ancient Ballads
Poetry before the T`angs
The Poets of the T`ang Dynasty
A Poet's Emperor
Chinese Verse Form
The Influence of Religion on Chinese Poetry
The Odes of Confucius
Sadness
Trysting Time
The Soldier
Ch`u Yuan
The Land of Exile
Wang Seng-ju
Tears
Ch`en Tzu Ang
The Last Revel
Sung Chih-Wen
The Court of Dreams
Kao-Shih
Impressions of a Traveller
Desolation
...
- GenresPoetry
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1909
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 4, 2019
I have read many translations of classic Chinese poetry, and though the versions in this book did not grip me (I prefer modern translations), the author's tone of awestruck wonder at the skill of the poets of the Tang dynasty drew me in, with lines such as:
"after the lapse of a thousand years these glowing pages torn from the book of life have drifted towards us like rose-leaves down a sombre stream."
And
"Certainly the music is the most haunting, suggestive of many-coloured moods, with an undertone of sadness, and that motive of sympathy between the artist-exiles of the universe which calls the song from the singer and tears from the heart of the man."
His commentary is, however, of its time (a century ago) in emphasizing on an East/West dichotomy by exalting the "East," especially of a seemingly mythic past, and disdaining the "West" and contemporary works.
"after the lapse of a thousand years these glowing pages torn from the book of life have drifted towards us like rose-leaves down a sombre stream."
And
"Certainly the music is the most haunting, suggestive of many-coloured moods, with an undertone of sadness, and that motive of sympathy between the artist-exiles of the universe which calls the song from the singer and tears from the heart of the man."
His commentary is, however, of its time (a century ago) in emphasizing on an East/West dichotomy by exalting the "East," especially of a seemingly mythic past, and disdaining the "West" and contemporary works.
November 14, 2022
2.5 stars, rounding it up to 3. It was a decent introduction into classical Chinese poetry. The author put little historical notes about each of the poets, and a few of their more famous pieces.
I think I enjoyed this more as a brief door-opener than I did for itself. It was small and had a lot of jumping-off points for independent study. As for the poems themselves, I'd be interested in more contemporary translations, to see how they compare.
I think I enjoyed this more as a brief door-opener than I did for itself. It was small and had a lot of jumping-off points for independent study. As for the poems themselves, I'd be interested in more contemporary translations, to see how they compare.
September 22, 2017
This is a great representation of basic Chinese poetry from a decent variety of poets.
May 12, 2010
It's short and sweet, with a nice little selection of Li Pi, Po Chu-i, etc. Very pretty. I couldn't tell you how accurate the translation is. It seems clunky in several places, but that may have been totally unavoidable, and it's a very pleasant read regardless.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews