Excerpt from The Poet Li Po: A. D. 701-762 At this time, he says at the time of Tu Fu), Li Po from Shantung was also celebrated for his remarkable writings, and the names of these two were often coupled together. In my judgment, as regards impassioned vigour of style, freedom from conventional restraint, and skill in the mere description of exterior things, his ballads and songs are certainly worthy to rub shoulders with Fu. But in disposition of the several parts of a poem, in carrying the balance of rhyme and tone through a composition of several hundred or even in some cases of a thousand words, in grandeur of inspiration combined with harmonious rhythm and deep feeling, in emphasis of parallel clauses, in exclu sion of the vulgar or modern - in all these qualities Li is not worthy to approach Fu's front hedge, let alone his inner chamber 1 Subsequent writers, adds the T'ang History (the work in which this essay is preserved), have agreed with Yuan Chen. Wang An-shih (1021 the great reformer of the eleventh century, observes: Li Po's style IS swift, yet never careless; lively, yet never informal. But his intel lectual outlook was low and sordid. In nine poems out or ten he deals with nothing but wine or women. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.