The Magpie at Night

Li Qingzhao

ISBN 10: 0241774071 / ISBN 13: 9780241774076

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, GB, 2025

About this Item

A luminous new translation of one of the greatest poets in Chinese historyLi Qingzhao is justly celebrated for her place in Chinese literary history. She was a poet with a wry, unsentimental style and a rich sense of melody. Her ci - lyrics that were originally set to music - are glorious in their depth and genius, spare and arresting on the line. They evoke with rare immediacy the haunting beauty of country life during the Song dynasty; the unseen, restive labour of the poet; and Li Qingzhao's bracing take on what it means to create art as a woman in the shadow of exile, war, imprisonment, and an unwelcoming literary establishment.In Wendy Chen's splendid new translation, each poem is as sharp and fresh as the edge of a new spring leaf. These richly textured bolts of melody are masterpieces of verse, as resonant and bracing today as they were in the eleventh century; and they underscore Li Qingzhao status as a necessary and iconic literary figure.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780241774076

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Magpie at Night
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241774071
• ISBN 13: 9780241774076
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 13.5W x 2H x 21.6D centimeters 13.5 centimeters width by 2 centimeters height by 21.6 centimeters depth
• Weight: 300 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Li Qingzhao is justly celebrated for her place in Chinese literary history. She was a poet with a wry, unsentimental style and a rich sense of melody. Her ci – lyrics that were originally set to music – are glorious in their depth and genius, spare and arresting on the line. They evoke with rare immediacy the haunting beauty of country life during the Song dynasty; the unseen, restive labour of the poet; and Li Qingzhao’s bracing take on what it means to create art as a woman in the shadow of exile, war, imprisonment, and an unwelcoming literary establishment.

In Wendy Chen’s splendid new translation, each poem is as sharp and fresh as the edge of a new spring leaf. These richly textured bolts of melody are masterpieces of verse, as resonant and bracing today as they were in the eleventh century; and they underscore Li Qingzhao status as a necessary and iconic literary figure.