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The Selected Poems of Li Po

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The Selected Poems of Li Po

By: Li Po, Po Li, David Hinton, Bai Li
Narrated by: David Shih
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About this listen

Li Po (AD 701-762) lived in T'ang Dynasty China, but his influence has spanned the centuries: the pure lyricism of his poems has awed readers in China and Japan for over a millennium, and through Ezra Pound’s translations, Li Po became central to the modernist revolution in the West. His work is suffused with Taoism and Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism, but these seem not so much spiritual influences as the inborn form of his life.

There is a set-phrase in Chinese referring to the phenomenon of Li Po: "Winds of the immortals, bones of the Tao." He moved through this world with an unearthly freedom from attachment, and at the same time belonged profoundly to the earth and its process of change. However ethereal in spirit, his poems remain grounded in the everyday experience we all share. He wrote 1,200 years ago, half a world away, but in his poems we see our world transformed.

Legendary friends in eighth-century T'ang China, Li Po and Tu Fu are traditionally celebrated as the two greatest poets in the Chinese canon. David Hinton’s translation of Li Po’s poems is no less an achievement than his critically acclaimed The Selected Poems of Tu Fu, also published by New Directions. By reflecting the ambiguity and density of the original, Hinton continues to create compelling English poems that alter our conception of Chinese poetry.

©1996 New Directions (P)2017 TalkingBook
Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature Asian Classics Literary History & Criticism Poetry World Literature Chinese Poetry

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This audiobook is utterly beautiful, a real jewel to cherish and listen to many times. My only objection is to the fact that it has no index or table of contents with which to choose what poem you want to listen to.. instead, they are lumped into 30 minute long files. I think that in this day and age publishers should be more careful and generous with the presentation.

Utterly beautiful, shame no index

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David Hinton, THE translator of classic Chinese poetry, a poet himself and a Ch’an (zen) practitioner. A full selection of the poems of Li Po, the pre-eminent poet of the Tang era. Sensitively read. A superb production.

Definitive Li Po

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