1 live poem · Old English
In the flickering candlelight of a Northumbrian monastery, a young boy bent over his wax tablet, carefully forming Latin letters under the watchful eye of his monastic teachers. This child, taken from his family at age seven and given to the abbey of Wearmouth, would grow to become one of medieval Europe's most luminous intellects. Bede the Venerable, born around 673 in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria and dyin…
“When the fire is kindled in the middle of the hall, the sparrow flies swiftly through, entering at one door and quickly passing out through another.”
Neighbourhood:
Classical & Ancient Poets, Devotional Poets, Hymn Writers, Medieval Poets, Mystical & Spiritual Poets
Emotional landscape: Spirituality, Wonder, Sorrow
1 live poem · Mandarin Chinese
Li Bai, also known as Li Bo, was born in 701 and died in 762, during the high and later Tang dynasty, the period most often celebrated as the great classical age of Chinese poetry. Few literary figures have become so inseparable from the imaginative idea of poetry itself. In China he is commonly called the “Immortal Poet,” and the phrase is more than a compliment to technical skill. It conveys the sense that his vers…
“The great roc rises with the same wind in a single flight, soaring ninety thousand miles.”
Neighbourhood:
Classical & Ancient Poets, Classical Chinese Poets, Mystical & Spiritual Poets, Nature Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Sorrow, Spirituality