Li He

Li He or Li Ho (Traditional Chinese:李賀) (790-816), with the courtesy name of Changji (長吉), is a short-lived Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty, famous for his unconventional and imaginative style. Along with Li Shangyin, he was "rediscovered" by the young Chinese writers in the 20th century for the imagist quality of his poems.

He was classified as an eccentric poet for more than a millennium in China. His works were not accepted in the canonical tradition: none of his poems can be found in the popular anthologies such as 300 Poems of the Tang Dynasty (《�"�詩三百首》) or Poems from 1,000 Poets (《千家詩》). While Li Bai was called an "Immortal of Poetry" (詩仙) and Du Fu "Sage of Poetry" (詩聖), Li He was dubbed "Ghost of Poetry" (詩鬼).

Influence

In 1968, Roger Waters of the rock band Pink Floyd borrowed lines from his poetry to create the lyrics for the song Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun from the band's second album A Saucerful of Secrets