Song Dynasty Poets

Volume II, What the Cuckoo Said, explores Southern Song Dynasty poets. A celebrated woman poet strikes the first note. After her comes a thematic chapter, "Blood Red the Raging River", a poem attributed to the legendary hero Yue Fei, followed by a surprisingly sentimental patriotic poet and a couple of his easy-going contemporaries. Next comes a rebellious woman branded as fallen and neglected for centuries. The volume ends with the romantic and passionate Dragon of the era. Susan Wan Dolling brings her third volume on Song Dynasty poets, another rich tapestry of history, culture, and lyrical beauty.

Volume I, Hundred Tongues, enters the world of Nothern Song Dynasty poets. It begins with a romantic warlord followed by "A Short, Short History of Song China". Then comes a serious scholar-warrior, and a popular poet-songwriter whom some considered "vulgar". Following them is a pair of good friends who were exiled and separated from each other. Two poets, one called "heroic and unrestrained" and the other, "delicate and elusive," concludes this selection from the first part of the Song dynasty.