In the autumn of 744 , he met Li Bai ( Li Po ) for the first time , and the two poets formed a friendship . David Young describes this as " the most significant formative element in Du Fu 's artistic development " because it gave him a living example of the reclusive poet @-@ scholar life to which he was attracted after his failure in the civil service exam . The relationship was somewhat one @-@ sided , however . Du Fu was by some years the younger , while Li Bai was already a poetic star . We have twelve poems to or about Li Bai from the younger poet , but only one in the other direction . They met again only once , in 745 .