The Immortal Poet

I pour alone but with no friend at hand;

So I lift the cup to invite the shining moon;

Along with my shadow, a fellowship of three.

The moon understands not the art of drinking;

The shadow gingerly follows my movements;

Still I make the moon and the shadow my company;

To enjoy the springtime before too late.

The above lines is part of the one of the famous poems of Li Bai, Drinking Alone under the Moon. He is known for his spontaneity, extensive natural imagery as much as anthropomorphism. Evident in his poems is his intensive attribution of human qualities and characteristics to non-human being such as objects, nature, or supernatural.

The Tang Dynasty was China's golden age of poetry. Between the period of 713-756AD the Dynasty produced a poet who is recognized not only in China but even in Western Literature. Li Bai's is considered along with To Pu as the greatest poets of China, Li Bai reaching his popularity in the period of 701-162 AD.

The Immortal Poet, Li Bai carries this mark having about 1100 of poems remain to date. He is known for his imagery fused with Taoism traveling over China to find inspiration for his works. A known poet Ezra Pound is responsible for the translated version of his poems for which it has been introduced to Western literature.

At the age of 25, the young Li Bai searched for doors aiming to secure a high position in royal court. He never pursue the position given he had to relegate his descendants beginning with the third generation. Instead he chose another path which is made him a poet.

Yu-lin society is the personal poets society for the emperor. He was appointed as a member of the society by 743 but went back to traveling when he witnessed the deadening characteristic of the group. By the An-Si revolution, he joined the force headed by the King's Son and saw this as an opportunity to ascend back to the throne, since it is claimed that his family use to rule China after the the Tang

His works are highly influenced by Taoism and Confucianism. The moralist value that is Confucian reverberates in his gu feng while the elements of Taoism is the key element to his works. almost a thousand poems attributed to him. He is famous of his yue fu poems being the best known that he authored. Yue fu are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. Distinct to these poems is its musical characteristic with uneven length and five characters.

His brilliance in his ability to write magnificent poems is well appreciated today and has become subjects of discussion in classes. His skill in writing poems has made scholars compared to Mozart, who has the ability to compose in just one sitting. Li Bai's travels led him to explore various places interacting and establidhing frienships in each of his visits which is believed to led him produce poems fusing philosophy with nature in his works. His intense and extravagant imagery has captured readers of all of the generations preceding him that even to date, his poetry are read by children as well as adults.

Poet Historian and Poet Sage

Much like Li Bai, Du Fu traveled the country even meeting Li Bai in one of his travels. His popularity as a poet in China under the Tang Dynasty overlaps that of Li Bai. Chinese and Japanese were the influences of his works and was quite unpopular at the time. If Li Bai was referred as the Immortal Poet, Du Fu was considered as the Poet Historian or Poet Sage by critics.

His life is but unknown only through his works which is now acknowledged as stylistic and formal innovations contrary as how it was received during his lifetime. However, his poems have influenced literature as time grew knowledge of his works. It was in the 11th century that Du Fu's works took its pinnacle.

“His influence was helped by his ability to reconcile apparent opposites: political conservatives were attracted by his loyalty to the established order, while political radicals embraced his concern for the poor. Literary conservatives could look to his technical mastery, while literary radicals were inspired by his innovations. Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Du Fu's loyalty to the state and concern for the poor have been interpreted as embryonic nationalism and socialism, and he has been praised for his use of simple, "people's language". (Chou p. 66)”

Though his military or sovereign commentaries through his poems were based on his emotion than on his calculations, Du Fu is most influential to Chinese poets even to date. His popularity might have been restricted to China, but his influence to each generation is timeless.  Du Fu is much known for his lushi which is a kind of poem that has strict form and content making him explore on expression than technical. Is compassion for himself and for others gave him the insights to formulate his thoughts and feelings to poetic form. For Du Fu, “ everything in the world is poetry.”