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Ancient and Medieval Bards – Surprising Facts About Some of History’s Greatest Poets

Khalid Elhassan March 17, 2025 17 min

Poets - Statue of Al-Mutanabbi, the Arabic Language's greatest bard, in Baghdad — Statue of Al-Mutanabbi, the Arabic Language's greatest bard, in Baghdad. Chaldean News

7. The Poet Who Died Trying to Embrace the Moon

Li Bo and the Moon’s reflection on a lake. The Poetry Foundation

Li Bo stayed in the imperial capital for a few years, then resumed his wanderings at age forty three. He was still not gainfully employed by age fifty five, when he landed an unofficial position as the poet of a military expedition led by one of the emperor’s sons. Unfortunately, the prince was accused of treason and executed, and his hangers-on, including Li Bo, were arrested and imprisoned. In 758 he was banished to a remote province, but before he got there news arrived of a general amnesty, so he returned to eastern China. His wanderings came to an end in 762 when, drunk in a boat on a lake, he tried to hug the moon’s reflection on the water and drowned.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.