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The works of Li Po, the Chinese poet

Li, Po (701-762)

LI PO, THE CHINESE POET

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I.

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I.

II.

III.

IV.

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1. ON THE SHIP OF SPICE-WOOD

2. A SUMMER DAY

4. A FAREWELL SONG OF WHITE CLOUDS

5. THE LONG-DEPARTED LOVER

6. LADY YANG KUEI-FEI AT THE IMPERIAL FEAST OF THE PEONY—I

7. LADY YANG KUEI-FEI AT THE IMPERIAL FEAST OF THE PEONY—II

8. LADY YANG KUEI-FEI AT THE IMPERIAL FEAST OF THE PEONY—III

9. A POEM COMPOSED AT THE IMPERIAL COMMAND IN THE SPRING GARDEN, WHILE LOOKING ON THE NEWLY GREEN WILLOWS BY THE DRAGON POND AND LISTENING TO THE HUNDRED-FOLD NOTES OF THE FIRST NIGHTINGALES

10. TO HIS FRIEND DEPARTING FOR SHUH

11. TO HIS THREE FRIENDS

12. ADDRESSED HUMOROUSLY TO TU FU

13. ON A PICTURE SCREEN

14. ON ASCENDING THE NORTH TOWER ONE AUTUMN DAY

15. THE SUMMIT TEMPLE

16. LAO-LAO TING, A TAVERN

17. THE NIGHT OF SORROW

18. THE SORROW OF THE JEWEL STAIRCASE

19. THE GIRL OF PA SPEAKS

20. THE WOMEN OF YUEH—I

21. THE WOMEN OF YUEH—II

22. THE WOMEN OF YUEH—III

23. THE WOMEN OF YUEH—IV

24. THE WOMEN OF YUEH—V

25. THE SOLITUDE OF NIGHT

26. THE MONUMENT OF TEARS

27. ON A QUIET NIGHT

28. THE BLUE WATER

29. THE CHING-TING MOUNTAIN

30. WITH A MAN OF LEISURE

31. THE YO-MEI MOUNTAIN MOON

32. ON THE CITY STREET

33. ON THE DEATH OF THE GOOD BREWER OF HSUAN-CHENG

34. TO HIS WIFE

35. THE POET THINKS OF HIS OLD HOME

36. SORROW OF THE LONG GATE PALACE—I

37. SORROW OF THE LONG GATE PALACE—II

38. AN ENCOUNTER IN THE FIELD

39. TO WANG LUN

40. ON SEEING OFF MENG HAO-JAN

41. ON BEING ASKED WHO HE IS

42. IN THE MOUNTAINS

43. THE FAIR QUEEN OF WU

44. WHILE JOURNEYING

45. THE RUIN OF THE KU-SU PALACE

46. THE RUIN OF THE CAPITAL OF YUEH

47. THE RIVER JOURNEY FROM WHITE KING CITY

48. BY THE GREAT WALL—I

49. BY THE GREAT WALL—II

50. THE IMPERIAL CONCUBINE

51. PARTING AT CHING-MEN

52. ON THE YO-YANG TOWER WITH HIS FRIEND, CHIA

53. AWAKENING FROM SLEEP ON A SPRING DAY

54. THREE WITH THE MOON AND HIS SHADOW

55. AN EXHORTATION

56. THE INTRUDER

57. THE CROWS AT NIGHTFALL

58. TO MENG HAO-JAN

59. TO TUNG TSAO-CHIU

60. TAKING LEAVE OF A FRIEND

63. TO HIS TWO CHILDREN

64. TO A FRIEND GOING HOME

65. A MOUNTAIN REVELRY

66. THE OLD DUST

67. A PAIR OF SWALLOWS

68. AT A RIVER TOWN

69. I AM A PEACH TREE

70. THE SILK SPINNER

71. CHUANG CHOU AND THE BUTTERFLY

72. THE POET MOURNS HIS JAPANESE FRIEND

73. IN THE SPRING-TIME ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE YANGTZE KIANG

74. THE STEEP ROAD TO SHUH

75. PARTING AT A TAVERN OF CHIN-LING

76. THE PHOENIX BIRD TOWER

77. HIS DREAM OF THE SKY-LAND: A FAREWELL POEM

78. IN MEMORIAM

79. ON THE ROAD OF AMBITION

80. TO TU FU FROM SAND HILL CITY

81. A VINDICATION

82. TO LUH, THE REGISTRAR

83. TO THE FISHERMAN

84. THE TEARS OF BANISHMENT

85. THE LOTUS GATHERER

86. THE SPORT-FELLOWS

87. THE DANCING GIRL

88. THE ROVER OF CHAO

89. TO HIS FRIEND AT CHIANG-HSIA

90. THE CATARACT OF LUH SHAN—I

91. THE CATARACT OF LUH SHAN—II

92. BEREFT OF THEIR LOVE

93. LADY WANG-CHAO—I

94. LADY WANG-CHAO—II

95. THE NORTH WIND

96. THE BORDERLAND MOON

97. THE NEFARIOUS WAR

98. BEFORE THE CASK OF WINE

99. YUAN TAN-CHIU OF THE EAST MOUNTAIN

101. THE BALLADS OF THE FOUR SEASONS

102. THE BALLADS OF THE FOUR SEASONS

103. THE BALLADS OF THE FOUR SEASONS

104. THE BALLADS OF THE FOUR SEASONS

105. TWO LETTERS FROM CHANG-KAN—I

106. TWO LETTERS FROM CHANG-KAN—II

107. ON ASCENDING THE SIN-PING TOWER

108. ON GOING TO VISIT A TAOIST RECLUSE ON MOUNT TAI-TIEN, BUT FAILING TO MEET HIM

109. AT THE CELL OF AN ABSENT MOUNTAIN PRIEST

110. ON A MOONLIGHT NIGHT

111. A VISIT TO YUAN TAN-CHIU IN THE MOUNTAINS

112. A MIDNIGHT FAREWELL

113. THE SONG OF LUH SHAN

114. TO HIS WIFE ON HIS DEPARTURE—I

115. TO HIS WIFE ON HIS DEPARTURE—II

116. TO HIS WIFE ON HIS DEPARTURE—III

117. ON HIS WHITE HAIR

118. TO THE HONORABLE JUSTICE HSIN

119. ON HEARING THE FLUTE IN THE YELLOW CRANE HOUSE

120. ON HEARING THE FLUTE AT LO-CHENG ONE SPRING NIGHT

121. ON THE TUNG-TING LAKE—I

122. ON THE TUNG-TING LAKE—II

123. TO HIS WIFE

124. TO HIS FRIEND, WEI, THE GOOD GOVERNOR OF CHIANG-HSIA WRITTEN IN COMMEMORATION OF THE OLD FRIENDSHIP DURING THE DAYS OF HIS BANISHMENT AFTER THE TUMULT OF WAR.

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II.

125. THE EIGHT IMMORTALS OF THE WINECUP

126. THE EX-MINISTER

127. A VISIT TO FAN WITH LI PO

128. PARTING WITH LI PO ON THE TUNG-TING LAKE

129. AN INVITATION TO LI PO

130. TO LI PO ON A SPRING DAY

132. THE GRAVE OF LI PO

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III.

THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION OF THE POETIC WORKS OF LI TAI-PO by LI YANG-PING MAGISTRATE OF TANG-TU, HSUAN-CHOU, OF THE TANG DYNASTY

LI PO—A BIOGRAPHY by LIU HSU

LI PO—A BIOGRAPHY by SUNG CHI

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NOTES ON THE CHINESE TEXTS

TRANSLATIONS AND WORKS ON LI PO

POEMS OF LI PO TRANSLATED IN THIS BOOK

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68

[OMITTED]

40. ON SEEING OFF MENG HAO-JAN

My friend bade farewell at the Yellow Crane House,
And went down eastward to Willow Valley
Amid the flowers and mists of March.
The lonely sail in the distance
Vanished at last beyond the blue sky.
And I could see only the river
Flowing along the border of heaven.

69

The Yellow Crane House stood till a recent date not far from the city of Wu-chang, Hupeh, on a hill overlooking the Yangtze-kiang.

Once upon a time a dead man of Shuh, traveling on the back of a yellow crane, stopped here to rest. Hence the name of the house.

There is another interesting story just as authentic, according to which: there stood here a tavern kept by a man whose name was Chin, to whom one day a tall rugged professor in rags came and asked very complacently, "I haven't money, will you give me wine?" The tavern keeper was game; he readily offered to the stranger the biggest tumbler and allowed him to help himself to all the wine he wanted day after day for half a year. At last the professor said to Chin, "I owe you some wine money. I'll pay you now." So saying, he took lemon peels and with it smeared on the wall a picture of a yellow crane, which at the clapping of his hands came to life and danced to the tune of his song. The spectacle soon brought a fortune to the tavern-keeper; he became a millionaire. Then, the professor left, flying away on his bird, whither no one knew. The grateful tavern-keeper built the tower-house in commemoration thereof, and called it the Yellow Crane House.

Willow Valley (Yang-chow), in Kiangsu.