A Lute of Jade

About this book

Exile, friendship, passing seasons and solitary contemplation give this selection of Chinese poems its recurring subjects. English renderings of poets including Li Po and Tu Fu are introduced through discussions of early ballads, the Tang dynasty, verse forms and religious influences. Cranmer-Byng's adaptations are part of an early twentieth-century encounter with Chinese literature, offering an English poetic interpretation rather than a literal modern translation.