Dreaming of Fallen Blossoms: Tune Poems of Su Dong-Po
TRANSLATED BY
Yun Wang
Su Dong-Po (1036-1101 A.D.) represents the pinnacle of literary accomplishment from the Song Dynasty. He is credited with transforming ci (tune poem) from a minor form of poetry, written to match fixed tunes and often used to express amorous feelings, to a major form of poetry capable of expressing the full range of emotions and the human condition. It became the primary vessel for lyric poetry in classical Chinese poetry. School children in China learn that the indispensable classics in poetry are "Tang shi Song ci (Tang poems and Song tune poems)". Li Bai and Du Fu are the grand masters of Tang shi; Su Dong-Po is the grand master of Song ci. Many poems in this Chinese/English bilingual book are appearing in English translation for the first time. The Chinese originals are accompanied by Pinyin, making this an ideal textbook for students.
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Yun Wang is the author of poetry books The Book of Totality (Salmon Poetry Press, 2015) and The Book of Jade (Winner of the 15th Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize, Story Line Press, 2002), and the book of poetry translations Dreaming of Fallen Blossoms: Tune Poems of Su Dong-Po (White Pine Press, 2019). Wang’s poems have been published in numerous literary journals, including The Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Cimarron Review, Salamander Magazine, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Green Mountains Review, and International Quarterly. Her translations of classical Chinese poetry have been published in The Kenyon Review Online, Salamander Magazine, Poetry Canada Review, Willow Springs, Kyoto Journal, Bat City Review, Xavier Review, Connotation Press, and elsewhere. Wang was born in China and came to the U.S. for graduate school in 1985. She is an astrophysicist at California Institute of Technology, currently focusing on developing space missions to explore the Universe.