CONTEMPORANEITY VERSUS TRADITION: LUO FUʼS SONG OF EVERLASTING REGRET, IN COMPARISON WITH THE POEM OF THE SAME NAME BY BAI JUYI

This study compares two poems with the same name, namely Bai Juyi’s and Luo Fu’s Song of everlasting regret, with an emphasis on the life and achievements of the fashionable poet Luo Fu, who was one of the main representatives of Modernism in Taiwan. The comparison takes into account the different historical and general context as well as the means of expression of the authors. It deals with the problem of reinterpretation of old texts and also examines to what degree they have become the inspiration for the contemporary writer, why the poet known for his modernist practices returns to the traditional Tang poems to what extent his poem is innovative as well as the way it handles the theme outlined in the original poem.