Goddesses, Ghosts and Demons
The Collected Poems of Li He, 790-816
He Li(Author)
Anvil Press Poetry
Published on 28. July 1983
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-85646-109-5 (ISBN)
Description
Poetica 15 Li He, born in 790 A.D., is said to have written poetry of great power at age seven. His death at twenty-six was considered a tragic loss. Legend records him writing poems on horseback, gathering the fragments in a tapestry bag carried by a servant lad. His mother once exclaimed, 'This boy of mine won't be content until he has vomited out his heart'. Barely 240 poems survive. Neglected in his own country for many years as aberrant and extremist, his work has recently undergone a re-evaluation in China and Japan, as well as in the West. As mystic and shaman-poet, Li He writes of goddesses, of the supernatural and demonic, of time and of alchemy. Taoist and Buddhist, his verse is distinguished by a romantic extravagance, a wild, exotic pessimism, a dark beauty more like Baudelaire or Trakl than like his contemporaries in the late T'ang. Today his poems seem unsettlingly modern. T'ang China (618-907) was one of the richest cultural periods in history, a flowering of art and literature of extraordinary beauty and endurance. In poetry, this three-hundred-year period's impact was so great that many people's conception of Chinese poetry is actually T'ang poetry.
This was also a period of religious and philosophical thought. Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism each exerted great influence on this medieval society. Among the great T'ang writers and philosophers, Li He stood apart as a poet of remarkable and eccentric originality and genius.
This was also a period of religious and philosophical thought. Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism each exerted great influence on this medieval society. Among the great T'ang writers and philosophers, Li He stood apart as a poet of remarkable and eccentric originality and genius.
More details
Series
15
Edition
Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Manchester
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Carcanet Press Ltd
Edition type
Revised edition
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 150 mm
Weight
518 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-85646-109-5 (9780856461095)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
J.D. Frodsham, respected scholar of Oriental literature, has provided notes for his translations of all of the poems. In addition, he has contributed a thorough introduction that relates the poet to his times and sets his verse in its historical context. With Dr. Frodsham's careful and insightful presentation, Li He's poetry speaks with a beauty preserved and transported across the ages.