Women Poets of China (New Directions Paperbook)

I have grown to love poetry of all kinds (except the rambling meaningless free verse poems which seem to be popular with pseudo-intellectuals today) and some of my favorite poem forms are the Asian (Japanese and Chinese) poetry. I purchased this wonderful volume (Woman Poets of China translated and edited by Kenneth Rexroth and Ling Chung) at a bargain price on Amazon.One of the many things I love about this collection is that “unlike Japan with its long tradition of women writers, poetry by women did not become fashionable in China until 1644-1911.” The women poets in this volume include those of courtesans, palace women and Tao priestesses living both in the East and West. Each page has the name of the woman poet and the time she lived along with her poem (s).A few of the many poems includes the following: Lady Ho: A song of Magpies. Chuo Wen-Chun: A song of white hair. Pan Chieh-Yu: A song of grief. Meng Chu: Spring song. Tsu Yeh: Five Tzu Yeh songs. Empress WU TSE-T’ien: A long song of the Empress Wu. Hsueh T AO: The Autumn brook. Chu Shu-Chen: Spring joy, Spring night. Kuan Tao-Sheng: Married Love numerous other beautiful poems. This book also has notes on the poets and other informative facts about Chinese literature and women.If you love Asian poetry this book should be in your personal collection. I loved this book.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Haiku Moments: How to read, write and enjoy haiku).

just perfect from the womans point of view

One of the best books of poetry available. Period.

No, I didn't buy this book. Instead, I handcopied several of the poems from a copy that I borrowed from the public library. I was then an earnest young man, gripped by a fever to read and copy all things expressive, elegant or simply well-said. It was some time in the 1970s. I wrote several of the poems down in a spiral-ring notebook and would read, re-read them countless times until many of the lines have integrated themselves into my subconscious!Here are some of these simple, beautiful lines embedded in my mind:A little boat returnsWithout the sound of oarsBut waits on the tide and the evening sea wind(Cheng Min)Softly we sing together the old song"The Sunlight in the Pass".The sorrow of parting will follow our horses' feet.(Chiu Chin)Sometimes, suddenly the old story overcomes us...The old melancholyComes from the land of longing.(Hsiung Hung)The most beautiful language,Sounds like beautiful flower petals,That fall and clothe my body with dream.(Hsiung Hung)My only wish is someone could find the original Chinese text and re-publish the book with facing Chinese and English translated text.

This is a beautiful, surprisingly sensual, volume of poetry. The expanded list of authors is nice,this is not merely the women poets of the court. A fascinating read.

This collection was a huge surprise. Unlike the steryo type of what women in China was like, subservient to husbands they are forced to marry, with little thoughts and feelings for themselves.These women poets starting from 1644-1911, shout out thier love of thier partners, discuss drinking, sex, lust, romance, infactutation and even loving other women.The metaphors are soft and light at the first reading, yet if you look deeper you realise some of the subjects are far from the softness the poetry is conveyed in.A good histrical text on Chinese Women and a good read. As the previous reviewer said, buy two and give one to a friend.

The editors made a good try to translate the poems, but the result makes me laugh!They can translate the meanings but they can't keep the feelings, formats, sounds, favors, and metaphors.This book can fool people who can't read Chinese. Chinese is my first language, this book can't fool me!If you are a professor or teacher, please stop showing off your "good taste" by forcing your student to read this piece of stupid translation. You need to learn Chinese to read real Chinese poem.