How long does it take to read Poems?
Tu Fu, Fu Tu, Yim Yse
Poems by Tu Fu, Fu Tu, Yim Yse takes about 4 hours 52 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 4 hours 52 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1724. 265 pages, about 72,875 words.
10 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 8 hours 6 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 4 hours 52 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 2 minutes |
The page count is the median across 45 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Du Fu (712–770) is one of the undisputed geniuses of Chinese poetry—still universally admired and read thirteen centuries after his death. Now David Young, author of Black Lab, and well known as a translator of Chinese poets, gives us a sparkling new translation of Du Fu’s verse, arranged to give us a tour of the life, each “chapter” of poems preceded by an introductory paragraph that situates us in place, time, and circumstance. What emerges is a portrait of a modest yet great artist, an ordinary man moving and adjusting as he must in troubled times, while creating a startling, timeless body of work. Du Fu wrote poems that engaged his contemporaries and widened the path of the lyric poet. As his society—one of the world’s great civilizations—slipped from a golden age into chaos, he wrote of the uncertain course of empire, the misfortunes and pleasures of his own family, the hard lives of ordinary people, the changing seasons, and the lives of creatures who shared his environment. As the poet chases chickens around the yard, observes tear streaks on his wife’s cheek, or receives a gift of some shallots from a neighbor, Young’s rendering brings Du Fu’s voice naturally and elegantly to life.
Subjects: Chinese poetry, Criticism and interpretation, Chinese Poets, Biography, Poetry, Poetry (poetic works by one author)
