SOURCE: The Poetry and Career of Li Po, George Allen and Unwin, 1950, pp. 31-49.

In the following excerpt from his full-length study of Li Po's life and career, Waley examines a selection of verses from the poet's most productive years, most likely 745-753.

It will be convenient to discuss here the question of [Li Po's] four successive wives. Wei Hao tells us that by his first wife, Miss Hsü, he had a daughter and a son named Bright Moon Slave. This is a child-name and as Wei Hao does not give his adult name, Bright Moon Slave probably died young. The first wife also died young, and it was perhaps to give Li Po a change of scene after her death that his friend Yüan invited him to stay in the north in 735. He next married a Miss Liu, ‘but they parted.’ The word used probably implies...