Top 10 Outstanding Poems by Poet Nguyễn Khuyến

Amidst profound mist, scorn sheepishly,

Four seasons cold, rhythmically they dance.
Moonlit revolution on high embankments,
Breathing freely, breaking the monotony with a clear sound.
Recalling the dreams of Thang Long's parentage,
Transforming governance, disguising the flawed affection.
Singular lineage, melancholy dissipates, achieving victory,
Far mountains and rivers, still a common fate.

In grandeur, Dương, the great scholar,

Van Thụ's heart mysterious and profound.
Memories ascend, post-graduation,
With military gods, closely intertwined.
Reciprocal respect and love,
Fate encounters like a destined bond.
In times of literary brilliance, emerged,
No mere prose, but an enchanting pond.
In times when the supreme thrived,
Poetry and wisdom, a celestial respond.
In times confronting military strategy,
A white bat signals an auspicious blend.
In times engaged in literary debates,
Complex arguments, like rivers without end.
Mastering the art of nine-dragon movements,
Ascending victorious, defying the celestial trend.
Outshining predecessors, breaking the mold,
Ancient methods, with a contemporary blend.
Surviving age with scarce years left,
Surpassing illness, with an immortal extend.
Swiftly entrusting a literary legacy,
Rising like a magnificent, splendid trend.
Exceedingly transcending limitations,
Above peers, reaching for the transcendental ascend.
Indulging in wine, forever intoxicating,
Unyielding to time, beyond the concept of spend.
Expressing poetry with profound beauty,
Beyond description, preceding any trend.
Trần Phồn's tower unparalleled,
Bá Nha's grasp, a sight to commend.
Proficiently utilizing surplus energy,
Excess doesn't bind, it doesn't condescend.
An old man weeping without tears,
Forced strength, still in solidarity, defend.

In the twenty-fourth of December, Dong Market stirs,

This year, is the gathering bustling with vendors?
Unforgiving sky, dust and cold linger,
Sipping wine, how many temple walls console?
Shopkeepers return, creating a clamor of chatter,
Debts settled, inquiries into the year-long toll.
A few more days, the news of spring arrives,
Firecrackers, whose house resonates with a thunderous roll?

In this world, there's a master of feigned deafness,

Artfully naive, appearing as if in a daze!
No one suspects, 'deaf in the ear, plowing with the deaf,'
This deaf path, later, I want to learn.
Seated, jesting, as natural as wood,
Mind reasoning, a lone self-servant.
By the garden's rear, by the front pond; with the tobacco pipe, with the betel quid.
With specialized tea, seven cups in a row, with Kieu lifting a pair of lines;
Morning, a moment, after a while, deaf again,
Deaf like that, who wouldn't want to be deaf?
Deaf like him, easy to mimic the lullaby!
Ask him, he remains nonchalant.

In moments of intoxication, the desire to abstain arises,

Desire to abstain, yet inclination prevails.
Inclination reigns, preventing the act of abstaining,
Possible to abstain, but abstaining is resisted.

Wistfully, a sorrowful voice lingers,

Does the soul of Thuc Emperor ever flow?
Five moments, blood flows in the vacant summer night,
Six hours, the soul dissolves in the moon's faint glow.
Is it regret for spring that stands and calls,
Or longing for the homeland, still in dreams?
Through the night, a lingering cry to someone,
Urging the wandering souls in a daze, it seems.

It's been a while since you visited,

The youth gone, the market far away.
The pond is deep, wisdom to fish,
The garden spacious, challenging to chase the chickens away.
Radishes emerging, tomatoes in bloom,
Squash just blossomed, bottle gourd in flower.
No betel leaves for the guest, but hospitality remains,
You came to visit, just us and the hour.