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Title: Poems (Penguin Classics) by Wang Wei, G.W. Robinson ISBN: 0-14-044888-8 Publisher: Penguin Books Format: Paperback

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Average Customer Rating: 4.67 (3 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: A useful introduction for newcomers to Wang Wei.
Comment: POEMS OF WANG WEI : Translated with an Introduction by G. W. Robinson. 144 pp. (Penguin Classics). Penguin Books 1973, and Reissued.

Wang Wei (+ 699-761) is one of the greatest poets in Chinese literature. During his life he experienced a number of political upheavals, and divided his time between the court and his country estate, where he drew inspiration from his beautiful natural surroundings and solitude. His poems, though deceptively simple, can conceal real depths, and, since he was a Buddhist, some exposure to Buddhist thought may be necessary to fully appreciate some of them.

The present book, after a brief 12-page Introduction, gives us over one hundred of Wang Wei's poems, lightly annotated and in adequate translations which are of varying degrees of success. Here is an example of Cooper's style at his best (with my obliques added to indicate line breaks), a short poem entitled 'Return to the Wang River' :

"Distant bell sounding at the mouth of the valley / Fewer and fewer the fishermen and woodmen / Away in the far mountains it is evening / And I am going alone towards the white clouds home / Water-chestnut flowers so delicate so hardly still / Willow catkins so light so easily fly / Colours of spring on the banks of the marsh to the east / And I am melancholy as I shut my door" (p.63).

The book, which also includes a brief Bibliography and finding numbers for all the poems, would make a useful introduction for anyone new to Wang Wei. But if, after reading it, you'd really like to discover what lies behind Wang Wei's seeming simplicity, and learn something of how his poetry works, you might take a look at the excellent bilingual anthology by Wai-lim Yip which contains a detailed treatment of a number of his poems. Details are as follows :

CHINESE POETRY : An Anthology of Major Modes and Genres. Edited and translated by Wai-lim Yip. 358 pp. Durham NC and London : Duke University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8223-1951-9 (pbk.)

Rating: 5
Summary: Poems from a Master
Comment: Of the Chinese poets, Wang Wei has a special quality of painting with words. This collection is representative of his writing and will delight those who have read Wang Wei's poems and will provide a good introduction to those searching for a remarkable poet.

Rating: 5
Summary: Truly, the West is too slow to learn @ Easter treasures
Comment: This book qualifies as the best medicine against stereotypes, of which the infection is so great.. College professors cannot be fired (a lifeteime paycheck) when they do not have the knowledge, or the passion, or the desire to learn... attorneys will say that the story of their ignorance is simply defamatio... the proof? They have degrees in some other field!!! Benjamin Franklin did not even attend High School, yet, among his many pionering endeavors, there is the railroad..yes, Franklin, a railroad pioneer. George Washington did not attend West Point. Etc. So, where does Academia get its airs?