Strong sense of the continuity of poetic tradition, glorification of alcoholic beverages and drunkenness, use of persona, fantastic extremes of some of his imagery, mastery of formal poetic rules – and ability to combine all of these with a seemingly effortless virtuosity in order to produce inimitable poetry. Sympathy for the common folks and antipathy towards needless wars (even when conducted by the emperor himself). Fantasy and note of childlike wonder and playfulness that pervade so much of it. Nostalgia. Li Bai also wrote a number of poems from various viewpoints, including the personae of women.
Celebrating the pleasures of friendship, the depth of nature, solitude, and the joys of drinking wine. Nearly all Chinese poets celebrate the joys of wine, but none so tirelessly and with such a note of genuine conviction as Li Bai.
Romantic. He and his friend Du Fu were the two most prominent figures in the flourishing of Chinese poetry in the Tang Dynasty that is often called the "Golden Age of China". His own dream-like imaginations embroidered with shamanic overtones. Comparing him to Du Fu, Li's poetry "is essentially backward-looking, that it represents more a revival and fulfillment of past promises and glory than a foray into the future."
His life has even taken on a legendary aspect, including tales of drunkenness, chivalry, and the well-known fable that Li drowned when he reached from his boat to grasp the moon’s reflection in the river.
Also known as Li Bai, Li Po is considered one of the best of the early Chinese poets ( Tang Dynasty). He is noted for his elegant romantic poetry and of his prolific output around 1000 have survived the centuries in various archives. These include the amazing `Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day`Li Po was born in 701 (some say 705) in what is now known as Suyab, Kyrgyzstan and died in 762 in Dangtu, China. His family name was Li and he is sometimes known as Li Po and Li Bai due to the difficulty of translating certain early Chinese characters.
Li Po, was an acclaimed even in his own times and in modern times is considered a poetic genius. He is a romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. Together with his friend Du Fu (712–770) he was one of the two most prominent figures in the Golden Age of Chinese poetry (in the mid-Tang Dynasty).
Around a 1000 poems attributed to him have survived, 34 are included in the classic anthology “Three Hundred Tang Poems” published in the 18th-century at the same time as translations of his poems began to appear in Europe. These poems celebrate the pleasures of friendship, the depth of nature, solitude, and the joys of drinking wine. His poems "Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day", "The Hard Road to Shu", and "Quiet Night Thought" are probably his most famous and are still used in schools today. Translations of Li`s poems continue to be made into a wide range of languages and his life has taken on a legendary aspect complete with tales of great drunkenness and persistent chivalry. There is a well known tale that Li drowned when he reached from his boat to grasp the moon’s reflection in the river in a drunken spree.
Li`s poetry reflects his own life and places which he visited. He tells tales of friends he saw off on journeys to distant locations never expecting to meet again; of his own dream-like imaginations embroidered with mystical overtones and of (to him) current events. This provides evidence of the changes through which he lived. His early poetry took place in the "golden age" of internal peace and prosperity of the Tang dynasty, but this all changed with the shocking rebellion of general An Lushan when all of northern China was devastated by war and famine.
Li`s poetry takes on new qualities; sadly, unlike his younger friend Du Fu, Li was not to live to see the suppression of these rebellions. Fortunately much of Li`s poetry has survived and gained lasting popularity in China and the western world.
