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Title: Selected Poems of Tu Fu by Fu Du, Tu Fu, David Hinton, Tu Fu ISBN: 0-8112-1100-2 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: July, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A handy introduction for newcomers to Tu Fu.
Comment: THE SELECTED POEMS OF TU FU. Translated by David Hinton. 173 pp. New York : New Directions, 1989, and Reissued.
Tu Fu (712-790) was one of China's greatest poets, and the present book, after a brief 9-page Introduction, gives us a comprehensive selection of his poems, arranged chronologically, annotated, and in adequate translations of varying degrees of success.
Here is an example of Hinton's style, the first four lines of an eight-line poem, selected at random from the poem 'Skies Clear at Dusk' (and with my obliques added to indicate line breaks) :
"Dusk's failing flare breaks out. Clouds / Thin and drift - none return. Distant, / Bright, a rainbow drinks at the river. / Rain in the gorge falls - remnants scatter" (p.78).
Tu Fu is not an easy poet to translate, and readers with access to David Hawke's bilingual edition of Tu Fu, or to A. C. Graham's 'Poems of the Late T'ang, might find it interesting to compare Hinton's approach with theirs.
His book, which also includes a useful 17-page Biography which is keyed to the poems, quite full Notes, a Finding List, a Bibliography, and an Index of Titles and First Lines, would make a handy introduction for anyone new to Tu Fu.
But if, after reading it, you'd really like to discover what lies behind Tu Fu's poetry, and learn something of how his poetry works, you might take a look at the excellent bilingual anthology by Wai-lim Yip which contains a detailed treatment of a number of Tu Fu's poems. Details are as follows :
CHINESE POETRY : An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres. Edited and translated by Wai-lim Yip. 358 pp. Durham NC and London : Duke University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8223-1951-9 (pbk.)
Rating: 5
Summary: This classic belongs on every poet's book shelf.
Comment: Tu Fu was China's greatest poet in most people's estimation. His unconventional use of classic forms illuminates the deep, familial joys and simple pleasures as well as the almost inconceivable sorrows people suffered during the middle years of the tenth century as China plunged from the cultural height of the middle T'ang dynasty to the depths of disaster caused by invasion, civil war, flooding, famine and the break down of civilization in all its forms. Though many people speak of Asian poetry as being symbolic and impersonal, the poems of Tu Fu are often highly personal and reveal a man who struggles to hold his family together and maintain his awesome dignity while being battered from the unparalleled luxury of the imperial palace to the desperation of a refugee fleeing barbaric armies killing everything in their path. Few poets will ever experience the horrible history that Tu Fu saw and survived, and few have ever recounted the moments of their lives half as well.
Many fine poets and translators have made excellent English versions of this master poet, but none has succeeded any better in terms of accuracy, clarity and lyricism than David Hinton. The Selected Poems of Tu Fu provides a wonderful sampling of the old gentleman's great diversity and adds the historical explanations that will prove invaluable to the new reader approaching this subject for the first time. I highly recommend this book and believe it belongs on every poet's book shelf.
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Title: The Selected Poems of Li Po by Bo Li, David Hinton, Po Li, Li Po ISBN: 0811213234 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Selected Poems of T'Ao Ch'Ien by T'Ao Ch'Ien, David Hinton, Tao Chien, Ch'ien T'Ao, Qian Tao ISBN: 1556590563 Publisher: Copper Canyon Press Pub. Date: May, 1993 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: The Selected Poems of Po Chu-I by Chu-I Pai, David Hinton, Po Chu-I ISBN: 0811214125 Publisher: New Directions Publishing Pub. Date: 01 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Late Poems of Meng Chiao by Meng Chiao, David Hinton ISBN: 0691012369 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 23 December, 1996 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Selected Poems of Su Tung-P'O by Su Tung-P'O, Burton Watson, Shi Su ISBN: 1556590644 Publisher: Copper Canyon Press Pub. Date: July, 1994 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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