Li Shang yin

Li Shang yin Poems

Li Shang yin Biography

Li Shangyin ( 813–858) was a Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty, born in Henei (now Qinyang, Henan). Along with Li He, he was much admired and "rediscovered" in the 20th century by the young Chinese writers for the imagist quality of his poems. He is particularly famous for his tantalizing "no title" poems. Li had a moderately successful career in the imperial civil service, although he never obtained a high position, either because of factional disputes, or because of his association with Liu Fen , a prominent opponent of the eunuchs. Li was a typical Late Tang poet: his works are sensuous, dense and allusive. The latter quality makes adequate translation extremely difficult. The political, biographical or philosophical implications supposed to be contained in some of his poems have been a subject of debate for many centuries in China. His most famous and cryptic poem is called "Jin Se" (the title is only taken from the first two characters of the poem, thus also a "no title" poem), which consists of 56 characters and a string of images. His "no title" poems are regarded as "pure poetry" by some modern critics. Although more famous for his sensuous poems, Li indeed wrote in many styles. He can be either satirical, humorous or sentimental. Moreover, some ancient critics hold that he is the only poet who, in some of his poems, succeeds in imitating the masculine quality of Du Fu's works.)

The Best Poem Of Li Shang yin

Night Rains: To My Wife Up North

You ask how long before I come. Still no date is set.
The night rains on Mount Pa swell the autumn pool.
When shall we, side by side, trim a candle at the West window,
And talk back to the time of the night rains on Mount Pa?


another translation:

Writing to My Wife at a Rainy Night

I cannot foretell when to leave Mount Ba for our reunion.
So far the Autumn Lake is rising with the night rain.
I don’t know when to light off our wedding candle again;
We’ll recall what happened tonight with the rainy mountain.

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