The poet whose works struck a chord with Chinese diaspora and Hong Kong youth in the 1960s

Yu Kwang-chung (1928-2017)

One of the most influential Chinese-language poets, whose profound but unpretentious verses captured followers from a premier to common folk, has died.

The poet par excellence left behind volumes of poems and essays he wrote, as well as poems he translated into English.

“Yu was in fact an expert in English literature and a translation master, but few know about that. The way he kept a balance as a scholar, a poet and an essayist was remarkable,” his long-time acquaintance, Professor Leo Lee Ou-fan, told the Post.

Lee added: “There’s a saying about Yu that he is capable of writing poems with his left hand and essays with his right hand.”