Comparative Poetry Reading of Su Shi and John Milton

In both Chinese and English poetic traditions, lyric poetry has served as the medium for conveying heartfelt experiences. One such an experience is remembering one’s late beloved, referred to as “dao wang” 悼亡 in Chinese. In the song lyric of Su Shi (1037-1101), “Jiang cheng zi” 江城子 (“For Ten Years We are Set Apart by Life and Death” 十年生死两茫茫) and Milton’s (1608-1674) Sonnet “Methought I Saw my Late Espoused Saint” are two most representative works of this poetic mode in the two traditions. In this comparative reading, I will examine the ways and conventions that the two poets adopt to treat this theme, and illustrate what we can learn from them about Chinese and Western literature/culture.

About the lector

Fusheng Wu is professor of Chinese and Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Utah, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Brown University in 1995, and is the author of five monographs on classical Chinese poetry, comparative literature, and translation studies. He has also published three English translations of classical Chinese poetry, as well as numerous articles on Chinese literature and comparative literature in the United States, China, and Europe.