From prince to prisoner, Li Yu (937-978) ruled briefly over his family's Southern Tang kingdom before he was taken prisoner by the powerful and warlike Northern Song dynasty. This vivid arc, from rule to ruin, is reflected in his poetry. Ineffectual as a ruler, he loved and celebrated court life, with its parties, dancing, drinking, and trysts. Later, having lost his kingdom, he came to know sorrow, homesickness, and the need to reconcile his melancholy with the passage of seasons and the fragility of life.
