I recently finished the Epic of Gilgamesh, and I’m starting a collection of poems by Rumi.
I’ve previously read Cold Mountain by Han Shan.
Are there any other ancient poets/poems with published work that you’d recommend?
I’m looking for things that are:
- Basically as old as possible
- Poetic/mystic
- Not Christian (or Western, Greek, or Roman).
Thanks!
Journey to the west. Published in the 16th century, describing events that happened in the 7th century.
Records of the grand historian. Written in the early 1st century BC.
Oh yea I’m working my way through Journey to the West (I’m on the last book). And it’s a blast.
The Popol Vuh, one of the most important (preserved) works of the K’iche society (Mayan)
Read it read it read it, it’s not very long and it is a literal crowd pleaser.
The edition I read was a little different I think but that should be perfectly fine
Edit: actually it’s only the first bit, it doesn’t look like that goes past the introduction
Thanks for checking. I thought that’s what the site was telling me but without knowing the longer version, it’s hard to know!
Tao Te Ching by Laozi (there’s a translation by Ursula Le Guin, and many others besides) — 4th century BCE
Maybe also Art of War, by Sun Tzu (5th century BCE).
Both very influential works in Chinese philosophy and literature.
Nice! I should get a copy of the Tao Te Ching. Thank you!
After you read it, you might like this essay: https://redsails.org/maoist-and-daoist-dialectics/
It looks at the influence of Daoism and The Art of War on Mao’s dialectics, and compares this eastern development of dialectics with the branch of dialectics that evolved in the west (eg Hegel, Lenin). (Though obviously these developments weren’t fully independent.) It was a really helpful essay for me for understanding dialectics.
How about the Muallaqat? A collection of Arabic odes that predate Islam.
There are multiple translations of it. Here’s one that’s free https://www.ithra.com/en/news/muallaqat1
PDF: https://www.ithra.com/application/files/8516/7524/7465/Al_Muallaqat.pdf
How long you want it? If long, try Kalevala, though it’s not very ancient.
