A Lute of Jade: Selections from the Classical Poets of China

by Launcelot Cranmer-Byng (tr.) from 1909 (Cranmer-Byng translation)

About

Cranmer-Byng's 1909 anthology — part of the 'Wisdom of the East' series — translates Tang and Song dynasty poets (Li Bai, Du Fu, Wang Wei, Su Dongpo) into fluid English prose-verse that conveys something of the originals' beauty without attempting to reproduce their formal properties. The selection focuses on the lyric-elegy traditions of classical Chinese poetry: the beauty of transient things, the melancholy of autumn, the longing for absent friends. As a reading anthology it offers accessible entry points into one of the world's richest poetic traditions.

Translated from the original Chinese.

Ancient Lyrical Contemplative Elegiac Romanticen

A Lute of Jade: Selections from the Classical Poets of China

Words: 14.5k
Duration: ~1 hr 49 min

57 sections

14.5k words

#TitleWords

1

Sadness

510:23

2

Trysting Time

990:45

3

The Soldier

2651:59

4

The Land of Exile

2331:45

5

Tears

1421:04

6

The Last Revel

1861:24

7

The Court of Dreams

2551:55

8

Impressions of a Traveller

700:32

9

Desolation

2141:36

10

The Lost One

1080:49

11

A Friend Expected

1881:25

12

A Night on the Mountain

3332:30

13

A Dream of Spring

8486:22

14

The Little Rain

910:41

15

A Night of Song

1270:57

16

The Recruiting Sergeant

2702:02

17

Chants of Autumn

6384:47

18

To the City of Nan-king

970:44

19

Memories with the Dusk Return

920:41

20

An Emperor's Love

1851:23

21

On the Banks of Jo-yeh

1190:54

22

Thoughts in a Tranquil Night

550:25

23

The Guild of Good-fellowship

2161:37

24

Under the Moon

400:18

25

Drifting

2101:35

26

The Song of the Nenuphars

1130:51

27

Tears in the Spring

1421:04

28

A World Apart

5073:48

29

The Celestial Weaver

8526:23

30

The Lute Girl

1k7:39

31

The Never-ending Wrong

1.9k14:22

32

The River and the Leaf

650:29

33

Lake Shang

1130:51

34

The Ruined Home

2441:50

35

A Palace Story

320:14

36

Peaceful Old Age

1991:30

37

Sleeplessness

870:39

38

The Grass

630:28

39

Autumn across the Frontier

650:29

40

The Flower Fair

1651:14

41

The Penalties of Rank

1631:13

42

The Island of Pines

1100:50

43

Springtide

960:43

44

The Ancient Wind

1671:15

45

An Old Battle-field

1.1k7:55

46

Return of Spring

600:27

47

The Colour of Life

780:35

48

Set Free

830:37

49

Fascination

940:42

50

Tranquil Repose

730:33

51

The Poet's Vision

760:34

52

Despondent

800:36

53

Embroideries

770:35

54

Concentration

820:37

55

Motion

2141:36

56

Autumn

4713:32

57

At the Graveside

8556:25

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Photos by Javier Allegue Barros, Burst on Unsplash