An essay on Po Chü-i, whose poems occupy most of this book, will be
found in “170 Chinese Poems.” The fullest account of Li Po’s life (with
translations) is given in a paper read by me to the China Society, and
published in the _Asiatic Review_, July, 1919. Notices of Ch‘ü Yüan,
Wang Wei, Yüan Chēn, Wang Chien and Ou-yang Hsiu will be found in
Giles’s “Biographical Dictionary.” To Wang Chieh Po Chü-i addressed
several poems.
Of the 68 pieces in this book, 55 are now translated for the first time.
Of the eight poems by Li Po, all but Number 6 have been translated
before, some of them by several hands.
Among the poems by Po Chü-i, three (Nos. 11, 12, and 44) have been
translated by Woitsch[1] and one, (No. 43), very incorrectly, by
Pfizmaier. Another (No. 21) was translated into rhymed verse by Prof.
Giles in “Adversaria Sinica” (1914), p. 323. Ou-yang Hsiu’s “Autumn” was
translated by Giles (with great freedom in many places) in his “Chinese
Literature,” p. 215.
[1] Aus den Gedichten Po Chü-i’s. Peking, 1908.
[Transcriber’s Note: The following apparent misprints have been
corrected for this electronic edition:
Patient carrier of towel and comb,[2]
--as printed, cited footnote 1, which is inapplicable and not on page
“Because you are my cousin,
“Then came the sharing of pillow and mat,
“Now, having ‘seen my Prince,’
--as printed, all were missing opening “
Footnote 3: See p. 58, “170 Chinese Poems,” Alfred A. Knopf, 1919.
--as printed, See p, 58,
with bedclothes under her arm
--as printed, bed-clothes]