Dreaming of Fallen Blossoms: Tune Poems of Su Dong-Po - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 194568027X ISBN 13: 9781945680274

Publisher: White Pine Press, 2019

Synopsis

Su Dong-Po (1036-1101 A.D.) represents the pinnacle of literary accomplishment from the Song Dynasty. He is credited with transforming ci (tune poem) from a minor form of poetry, written to match fixed tunes and often used to express amorous feelings, to a major form of poetry capable of expressing the full range of emotions and the human condition. It became the primary vessel for lyric poetry in classical Chinese poetry. School children in China learn that the indispensable classics in poetry are "Tang shi Song ci (Tang poems and Song tune poems)". Li Bai and Du Fu are the grand masters of Tang shi; Su Dong-Po is the grand master of Song ci. Many poems in this Chinese/English bilingual book are appearing in English translation for the first time. The Chinese originals are accompanied by Pinyin, making this an ideal textbook for students.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"The poems gathered here are tender and graceful in their attention to the natural world, poignant in their understanding of human lives, clear and yet mysterious in their allusiveness. This bilingual edition with valuable notes about each poem will be a treasure both to English speakers and to Chinese speakers."                  ―Alicia Ostriker, author of the Book of Seventy "These translations from the poetry of the great Sung Dynasty master achieve the impossible: they are fine poems in English that are also accurate in the "carrying over" of the songs, language to language, culture from culture, that is, indeed, translation. I welcome this book with enthusiasm, admiration, and boundless gratitude."                  ―Sam Hamill

About the Author

Yun Wang is the author of two poetry books, The Book of Totality (2015), and The Book of Jade (2002), two poetry chapbooks, Horse by the Mountain Stream (2016), and The Carp (1994). Her translations of classical Chinese poetry have been published in The Kenyon Review Online, Salamander Magazine, Poetry Canada Review, Willow Springs, Kyoto Journal, Connotation Press, and elsewhere. Wang is a cosmologist at California Institute of Technology.

About this edition

• Publisher: White Pine Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 194568027X
• ISBN 13: 9781945680274
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 140