Bai Juyi

Picked up a "200 selected poems" book. I may have said it before... but I'm so much more willing to plunk down my tiny dineronds (was it only me and my sibblings -- thank you, Cris, you inventor of all things that seem to stick around -- who called'em that? ehe) on books than clothing. I'll think and think and think about a piece of clothing I actually really need and then not end up spending on it, but then a book, or two or three, will show up and they just need me and I promptly snap them up and stack them on my shelf, to receive attention at a time when I have time to give attention. Which never happens. My one consolation is that they're pretty upstanding selections, if I may say so myself. :) If one judges a person by the books they INTEND to read, I'll be pretty well-judged, hahaha. Hrm...

Anyway!

A couple of this fellow's poems -- Bai Juyi, translated by Rewi Alley -- jumped out at me. They're really quite interesting, especially being in this (Chinese-ish) part of the world... In the ones I've chosen, I so like his depiction of life in China -- it helps me get and understand some things -- and then I particularly like his conclusions in these ones.

So some Bai Juyi, forthcoming...