Cathay

1915

Brasch PL2671 A27

London: Elkin Mathews

Described by T. S. Eliot as ‘the inventor of Chinese poetry for our time,’ Pound brought classical Chinese poetry to a modern English-speaking audience. As with the troubadours and Provençal poets, Pound revived Chinese poetic practice, inventively interpreting the poetry and revealing his own poetic sensibility and linguistic gifts. Using Ernest Fenollosa’s notes, Pound ‘translated’ poems by ‘Rihaku’ (Li Bai or Li Po) into elegantly simple English. Pound’s graceful poems are collected in this handsome volume, Cathay.