x_los: (Default)
x_los ([personal profile] x_los) wrote in [community profile] dankodes2022-04-01 09:27 pm

The Works of Li Qingzhao, Ci Poems 3.41 - 3.48

The sixth instalment of Li Qingzhao’s ci poetry. This book is freely available via De Gruyter's Library of Chinese Humanities in Mandarin and English and via several publication formats, including two open access options (the pdf appears to be better formatted than the ebook). We're reading the poems 3.41 through 3.48, inclusive.

How to Read Chinese Poetry has three chapters on the ci forms Li Qingzhao uses here: 

Chapter 12, Ci Poetry: Short Song Lyrics (Xiaoling) 

Chapter 13, Ci Poetry: Long Song Lyrics (Manci) 

Chapter 14, Ci Poetry: Long Song Lyrics on Objects (Yongwu Ci)




Recall from the introduction that everything after 3.35 is relatively likely to be misattributed. This is especially true after 3.45: these may be written deliberately 'in Li Qingzhao's style'. 

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Re: 3.48

(Anonymous) 2022-04-01 10:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I’m with Teddy (Salinger short story) who is done with poetry because it’s all about a man getting his head broken in two pieces by a falling coconut. His wife finds his head, recognises it and sings sadly and sorrowfully. Teddy: “Supposing the lady just picks up the 2 halves and shouts into them very angrily ‘Stop that!’”

There is a dreary sameness to the angst expressed in the above odes, albeit the setting for it is (mostly) nicely crafted.