Poetry Codex

Chinese & Japanese

Tu Fu

712–770

Tu Fu (712–770), whom his countrymen called the God of Verse, was the friend of Li Po and a master of craftsmanship. Cranmer-Byng describes his work as underlain by a continual sadness, and notes his poems of rural life and of the horrors of civil war.

The poems here are L. Cranmer-Byng’s versions in A Lute of Jade (1909), given with the poet’s name as spelled in those books.

Poems (71)

  1. The Little Rain
  2. A Night of Song
  3. The Recruiting Sergeant
  4. Chants of Autumn
  5. In Absence
  6. Wine
  7. To His Brother
  8. Home Joys
  9. Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju
  10. The Hermit
  11. Superseded
  12. Solo Chi Segue Cio Che Piace e Saggio
  13. Dum Res et Aetas
  14. A Picnic
  15. The Pressgang
  16. A Desultory Visit to the Fêng Hsien Temple at the Dragon's Gate
  17. The Thatched House Unroofed by an Autumn Gale
  18. The River Village
  19. The Excursion (I)
  20. The Excursion (II)
  21. The Recruiting Officers at the Village of the Stone Moat
  22. Crossing the Frontier (I)
  23. Crossing the Frontier (II)
  24. The Sorceress Gorge
  25. Thinking of Li Po on a Spring Day
  26. At the Edge of Heaven. Thinking of Li T'ai-po
  27. Sent to Li Po as a Gift
  28. A Toast for Mêng Yün-ch'ing
  29. Moon Night
  30. In Exile
  31. The Ghost-Road
  32. Sailing Across Lake Mei-Pei
  33. An Old House Unroofed by an Autumn Gale
  34. The Waters of the Mei-Pei
  35. The Wanderer's Return
  36. Conscripts leaving for the Frontier
  37. The Khwun-ming Lake
  38. The Eight-Sided Fortress
  39. On Meeting Li Kuei-nien Down the River
  40. On a Moonlight Night
  41. A Spring View
  42. A Night-Vigil in the Left Court of the Palace
  43. Taking Leave of Friends on My Way to Hua-chou
  44. Remembering My Brothers on a Moonlight Night
  45. To Li Po at the Sky's End
  46. A Farewell at Feng-chi Station
  47. On Leaving the Tomb of Premier Fang
  48. A Night Abroad
  49. On the Gate-Tower at Yo-chou
  50. The Temple of the Premier of Shu
  51. A Hearty Welcome
  52. A View of the Wilderness
  53. Both Sides of the Yellow River Recaptured by the Imperial Army
  54. A Long Climb
  55. From an Upper Story
  56. Staying at the General's Headquarters
  57. Night in the Watch-Tower
  58. Thoughts of Old Time
  59. A View of T'ai-shan
  60. To My Retired Friend Wei
  61. Alone in Her Beauty
  62. Seeing Li Po in a Dream
  63. A Drawing of a Horse by General Ts'ao at Secretary Wei Feng's House
  64. A Song of a Painting
  65. A Letter to Censor Han
  66. A Song of an Old Cypress
  67. A Song of Dagger-Dancing
  68. A Song of War-Chariots
  69. A Song of Fair Women
  70. A Song of Sobbing by the River
  71. A Song of a Prince Deposed

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