A Tang Poet from Nairobi is a new website featuring the collected poems of Li Shangyin 李商隱 as translated by Mark O. Ndesandjo, with his calligraphy and often contextualized with anecdotes or fictions of his own. Such as:

I once visited a city in a strange land called America. The people there were stoic and violent. They also were so alone, as though they had never had a father or a mother, and were always flying in the cold air without roots to tether them to the earth. The path of solitude, their president had declared, is the only one worth valuing. It was winter in Boston. As was my wont, I spent the evening looking for sordid pleasures, or love for sale. The alley was narrow, surrounded by brick walls far larger and higher than anything in Chang’An. In the darkness I saw the figure of a woman. Her body was lithe, and the shadows slashed her face. With a little hesitation I passed her and then, a few yards away, turned back. She was waiting for me by some large refuse bins …

The story continues, and is followed by his translation:

Princess Shou Yang’s marriage makeup is bold,
Noble slanted eyebrows touch a forehead sparkling with gold,
Seeing me, she pretends to blush, as usual just for show!
Regarding this whoring rascal, how little does she know!

寿阳公主嫁时妆，
八字宫眉捧额黄。
见我佯羞频照影，
不知身属冶游郎。

Ndesandjo writes:

I want the general public to know the Chinese wrote great poetry, and help avoid searching for this great poet’s works in bits and pieces. Furthermore, not being a professional translator, I wanted to post my interpretations as a work in progress that will benefit from other’s input and ideas, including academics. Finally, I think it is important to express personally how Li Shangyin’s insights can inspire across three cultures: America, Kenya, and China.

Click the image above for all the poems.