Translated poetry is always weird for me, but the background notes were great.

Solid intro to the lives/context of the poets and to be desired primarily for its notes on allusions to Chinese literature/culture in the poems. As for the poems themselves? Mostly flat and even awkward at times. Perhaps admirably, Arthur Cooper attempts to preserve (or transliterate rather) the original Chinese syllabic verse — but the words in English (and all of their auxiliary syntax) just don’t move/breathe as freely as the Chinese do under the same constraints. While only being intimately familiar with Rexroth’s Tu Fu, the difference of touch/sensibility is night and day.

I'm not a massive fan of poetry in general, but I do love Chinese history. For me, the poems weren't as interesting as the explanation of them. Li Po and Tu Fu were definitely men of their time, as it was common for scholars to try their hand at poetry. And some of their poems are really interesting, painting a picture of both how life was during the Tang Dynasty as well as how differently they each saw the world. Li Po takes a more cynical view of the world, whereas Tu Fu seems to be more flowery in his writing. It's a fun book to read, both if you like poetry and if you're interested in Chinese history.