August 1, 2006
Mindful of Robert Frost's famous maxim, "Poetry is what is lost in translation," Seaton yet risks the loss for the sake of opening doors otherwise closed to readers lacking Chinese. This collection spans decades of Seaton's work and almost 4,000 years of Chinese poetry. It is strongest on T'ang Dynasty (618-905 C.E.) work, weakest on post-nineteenth-century poetry, hence best as a historical introduction rather than a window on contemporary China. Throughout, Seaton scrupulously adheres to his conviction that meaning--the "purpose" of the poem--takes precedence over music and form. That stance is a matter of heated debate among translators, for which readers can be grateful because of the new and different versions of old poems it engenders. Seaton's introductory essays place his selections in context, offer brief entree to some of the challenges Chinese poses to readers of English, and provide an overview of Chinese poetic forms. The essays as much as the translations make the book a fine gateway to China's long poetic tradition.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)