Eternal Sorrow
Eternal Sorrow was the most loved long poem by the famous TangPo Chu-i
(766-840 AD), on the tragic romance between Emperor Shyuan (685-762 AD)
and his Lady Yang Kuei-fei.
Shyuan was a powerful emperor who pushed Tang Dynasty to the peak of its
glory. He was also a talented poet and musician, playing flute and
choreographed dances. Lady Yang was beautiful, but also as talented as a
musician. The two were so much in love and in their artistic endeavors that
the Emperor neglected his duty. A trusted general An Lu-san rebelled and
drove the Emperor out of the captial Chang-an. The royal army refused to
march until Lady Yang and her family were put to death. Shyuan retired so
that his son could restore order in the country, and wasted his life agonizing
over the memory of Lady Yang and her love.
Po Chu-i told the story in the first part of the poem. He also added the
second part in which a magician searched and found the spirit of Lady Yang
on a mystic island in the ocean, and brought back her gifts for the Emperor,
and her vow of trust and love. Thus transcending the limits of space and
time, this poem has been the most beloved in China for 12 centuries.
Po's poems were to be sung, but the tunes were lost as all the Tang poems
over the years. Schbert's Winterreise has 24 songs, and 22 of them are used
to carry the verses in Eternal Sorrow. It is amazing how well the songs and
the poem fit together. The tunes and the accomplishment in the songs
provide the exact musical prescriptions to Eternal Sorrow. The original
poems in Winterreise are fairly independent to one another. Eternal Sorrow
on the other hand unifies the songs into a solid piece of operatte, telling a
complete and compelling story. It seemed that Schubert had composed the
songs not for Wilhelm Muller's Winterreise but for Po's Eternal Sorrow.
Video images are taking from a 40 session TV series on the life of Emperor
Shyuan. The mythical part of the poem does not have suitable image to
accompany. Only 14 segments have the proper TV images to match.
1. Her smiling
2. The chilly springtime
3. Three thousand beauties
4. Love's delight
5. The war's alarms
6. Tears of blood
7. Bridge of cloud
8. Green streams
9. The slope of Ma-wei
10. The willow by the hall
11. The spring renewed
12. In dreary gloom
13. The highest heaven*
14. A fairy hill*
15. Knock on the fairy door*
16. Cloud-like hair*
17. Like rainbows*
18. Her glances veiled*
19. The world of men*
20. True as gold*
21. The secret vow
22. Eternal sorrow
*Video images are not available. Some graphic block diagrams are used to
depict characters and scenery. The colors represent different characters:
Yellow: Emperor
Pink: Lady Yang
Blue: Taoist Priest
White: Flying Horse
Violet: Woman Servant
Green: Girl Servant
White: Dieties
Red: Fairy Gods
Eternal Sorrow was the most loved long poem by the famous TangPo Chu-i
(766-840 AD), on the tragic romance between Emperor Shyuan (685-762 AD)
and his Lady Yang Kuei-fei.
Shyuan was a powerful emperor who pushed Tang Dynasty to the peak of its
glory. He was also a talented poet and musician, playing flute and
choreographed dances. Lady Yang was beautiful, but also as talented as a
musician. The two were so much in love and in their artistic endeavors that
the Emperor neglected his duty. A trusted general An Lu-san rebelled and
drove the Emperor out of the captial Chang-an. The royal army refused to
march until Lady Yang and her family were put to death. Shyuan retired so
that his son could restore order in the country, and wasted his life agonizing
over the memory of Lady Yang and her love.
Po Chu-i told the story in the first part of the poem. He also added the
second part in which a magician searched and found the spirit of Lady Yang
on a mystic island in the ocean, and brought back her gifts for the Emperor,
and her vow of trust and love. Thus transcending the limits of space and
time, this poem has been the most beloved in China for 12 centuries.
Po's poems were to be sung, but the tunes were lost as all the Tang poems
over the years. Schbert's Winterreise has 24 songs, and 22 of them are used
to carry the verses in Eternal Sorrow. It is amazing how well the songs and
the poem fit together. The tunes and the accomplishment in the songs
provide the exact musical prescriptions to Eternal Sorrow. The original
poems in Winterreise are fairly independent to one another. Eternal Sorrow
on the other hand unifies the songs into a solid piece of operatte, telling a
complete and compelling story. It seemed that Schubert had composed the
songs not for Wilhelm Muller's Winterreise but for Po's Eternal Sorrow.
Video images are taking from a 40 session TV series on the life of Emperor
Shyuan. The mythical part of the poem does not have suitable image to
accompany. Only 14 segments have the proper TV images to match.
1. Her smiling
2. The chilly springtime
3. Three thousand beauties
4. Love's delight
5. The war's alarms
6. Tears of blood
7. Bridge of cloud
8. Green streams
9. The slope of Ma-wei
10. The willow by the hall
11. The spring renewed
12. In dreary gloom
13. The highest heaven*
14. A fairy hill*
15. Knock on the fairy door*
16. Cloud-like hair*
17. Like rainbows*
18. Her glances veiled*
19. The world of men*
20. True as gold*
21. The secret vow
22. Eternal sorrow
*Video images are not available. Some graphic block diagrams are used to
depict characters and scenery. The colors represent different characters:
Yellow: Emperor
Pink: Lady Yang
Blue: Taoist Priest
White: Flying Horse
Violet: Woman Servant
Green: Girl Servant
White: Dieties
Red: Fairy Gods
The Eternal Sorrow
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