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One Hundred Poems from the Chinese (New Directions Book)
by Kenneth Rexroth
Product Group: Book
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation (1971-06)
ISBN: 0811201805
EAN: 9780811201803
Dewy Decimal #: 895.11008
Paperback: 1 pages
SKU: 080201001
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: This copy is in good condition. There are neat Pencil writings and underlining in different parts of the copy. No visible highlights, tears to text. Tight spine. No Dust Jacket. Clean Soft Cover with light shelf/edge wear. Good copy of beautiful poetry, worth having,an affordable price. (L6-1)
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Now in its 21st printing. Thirty-five poems by the great Tu Fu (T'ang Dynasty, 713-770) make up the first part of this volume -- with the remainder devoted to classic poets of the Sung Dynasty (10th-12th centuries) including: Mei Yao Ch'en, Su Tung P'o, Lu Yu, Chu His, Hsu Chao, and the poetesses Li Ch'ing Chao and Chu Shu Chen. With a translator's introduction, biographical notes on the poets and poems, and a bibliography of other translations.
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Customer Reviews
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Rexroth captures a variety of moods and feelings which are quite profound.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-06-19
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Since I returned from my first trip to China, I have become fascinated with Chinese culture and history.
I don't know much about poetry except that I like what I like (what moves and inspires me).
Something tells me that these translations are as much Kenneth Rexroth as they are the Chinese masters, which is fine with me because it is obvious that Rexroth captures a variety of moods and feelings which are quite profound.
I think it does justice to the integrity of this body of literature.
Particularly moving to me are the translations of Mei Yaochen whose poems dealing with his dead wife reveal a passion and respect for wamnhood that bellies our general notion of woman's treatment and subserviant place in China; and the poems of Madame Chu Shu Chen who is also very passionate in her feeling as a woman in China.
Comparisons: translations by Greg Wincup; Xu Yuan Zhong; Tony Barnstone
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Rexroth helped usher in a new era of great translations
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-08-29
This highly portable collection demonstrates the posture a translator must take when approaching the rich body of ancient Chinese poetry. Rexroth masterly retains the playfulness and humanity that allow these poems to endure through the centuries and yet he regards these rare artifacts with reverence.
These poems are a great introduction to several key poets, both male and female, from several Chinese dynasties.
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A genuine delight
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-07-23
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
You *NEED* this book. Every library ought to have a heart. And this book is an excellent place to start.
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A Poet, not a Translator
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-04-24
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
Kenneth Rexroth is a poet first and a translator second; judged on that basis, his One Hundred Poems from the Chinese is a great success. His approach, set out in a brief introduction, is simply to produce the best English poem he can in the spirit of the original. The resulting translations are more or less free as he thought appropriate for each individual work.
The book is in two parts. Part one consists of Rexroth's versions of 35 poems by Du Fu, whom he describes as "the greatest non-epic, non dramatic poet who has survived in any language". He clearly knows these poems well, and his translations are uniformly good.
Part two offers around 70 works by Sung dynasty poets; some are represented by only one piece, some by more extensive selections. These tend to be more free, more personal, and often strikingly modern works. In Rexroth's words again: "The whole spirit of this time in China is very congenial today"- a statement as true today as when it was written in 1971. Many of these poets are still not well translated in English, so Rexroth's translations are invaluable.
At the back of the book is a brief, but adequate, notes section with information on each poet and explanatory material.
Rexroth's concentration on the lesser-known Sung poets is paralleled by his choice of poems in the Du Fu section. He does not confine himself to the best known pieces found in other collections, striking a good balance between the familiar and the new.
An interesting example of Rexroth's approach to translation is:Another Spring
White birds over the grey river./Scarlet flowers on the green hills./I watch the Spring go by and wonder/If I shall ever return home. Rexroth has changed the river's colour from blue in the original to grey: a good example of a liberty which would be objectionable from a translator, but which he can get away with. He also clarifies "blazing" in the original to "scarlet", which allows him to preserve the original's strictly parallel parts of speech in the first couplet.
This is a fine book. It was first published more than 30 years ago, but it has lasted because of the consistently high quality of translation and because of the unusual selection of poems offered. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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True to the spirit, and valid as English poems.
Rating (5)
Date: 2001-06-20
10 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
ONE HUNDRED POEMS FROM THE CHINESE. By Kenneth Rexroth. 148 pp. New York : New Directions, 1965 and Reissued.The present book is in two parts. First we are given Rexroth's readings of thirty-five poems by Tu Fu, based on the Chinese text. The second part consists of a selection of Sung Dynasty poetry, most of which had not been Englished prior to Rexroth. Rexroth makes no great claims for these translations, some of which he admits are rather free. But he does express the hope that "in all cases they are true to the spirit of the originals, and valid English poems" (p.xi). It has always seemed to me that Rexroth succeeded brilliantly. Here are a few lines chosen at random from Tu Fu's 'Loneliness' (with my obliques added to indicate line breaks) : ".... Where the dew sparkles in the grass, / The spider's web waits for its prey. / The processes of nature resemble the business of men. / I stand alone with ten thousand sorrows" (p.16). Here are a few from Su Tung P'o : ".... As for literature, it is its own reward. / Fortunately fools pay little attention to it. / A chance for graft / Makes them blush with joy" (p.73). These readings of Rexroth will delight all open-minded readers. Who cares if he wasn't a union-approved sinologist? Purists may sputter, but since his versions are 'true to the spirit, and valid as English poems,' could any sensible person reasonably ask for more ?
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