The Book of Chinese Poetry: Being the Collection of Ballads, Sagas, Hymns, and Other Pieces Known as the Shih Ching or Classic of Poetry

xxviii, 528 pp. 8vo. Original navy blue cloth, gilt & orange titles. An English translation of the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, known as the Shih Ching, which consists of 305 works from the 11th to 7th centuries B.C. It is one of the five classics whose compilation is attributed to Confucius. The preface provides a historical introduction to the collection, and commentary on this and other translations. The work was first translated into prose by Dr. James Legge in 1871, and into verse in 1876, though Allen comments in reference to the verse version that, "I trust that he will forgive me for saying that I cannot put it on the lofty level of his prose translation... As equivalents of the old poems seen through the spectacles of the modern Chinaman, Dr. Legge's pieces are perfect; as specimens of English poetry they are worth little." Allen goes on to explain that no other complete metrical version exists. Ideally, then, one would own and consult copies of Legge's translations as well as Allen's, each recommended for its relative merits, and each supplementing the shortcomings of the other.