Top 10 Beautiful Poems by Poet Vũ Quần Phương

Red Shirt

The red shirt you wear through the crowded streets The green trees seem to reflect your glow. You walk by, flames burning in every eye, And I stand as ashes, do you even know?

Source: Vũ Quần Phương, 'The Moon in the Ox Cart,' Literary Publishing House, 1988

The Threshold

This place feels familiar to all, From the time we were small. When grandmother's and mother's hands Guided us gently along the lands.
A place where parents rushed by, Always hurried, never shy, A place where friends would often play, Bringing joy throughout the day.
This place led me to school one day, Now the road stretches far away, But it still waits, day and night, For me to walk and find the light.

Source: Vietnamese Language Textbook, Grade 1, Volume 2, Educational Publishing House, 2014

Reading Xuân Diệu's Poetry

The river has its dock, And the verse carries a touch of sorrow.

Love poems are given to all, Alas... a wreath of flowers lies on the grave.

Feet wander through mountains and lakes, Sending fragrance to the wind, never ending.

Words on paper flutter in the breeze, While the heart remains silent under the grass.

The scent of pine still floats on the air, Peppermint in Lang Street intoxicates the summer's breath.

The verse brushes past the cicada's song, The stroke of the pen feels the cold of the sky.

Living in joy and sorrow in this world, I am like a pomegranate, how does one smile?

The shadow of the lake reflects the flesh, Drinking once, thirst returns, this is life’s riddle.

When the body rests in the motherland's embrace, The soul still lingers, reaching out to the living.

Lý Bạch's Last Poem

The wine pours into the river, the river soaks in the wine, Did anyone feel sorrow that night as he was drunk?

A thousand years the old moon casts its light over the old river, And the river still flows as it did a thousand years ago.

A thousand years have passed, but the drunkenness remains, Every time the moon rises, the poems are remembered again.

Wine does not intoxicate like yearning does, The moon becomes a longing floating on the dreamlike river.

Who can say whether one is drunk or awake, The man who keeps company only with the clear moon?

He casts himself into the embrace of his desire, A poem that gives all of oneself to the moment.

Source: Vũ Quần Phương, Vầng trăng trong chiếc xe bò, NXB Văn học, 1988

Referencing Folk Verse

Looking at the water - the water flows, looking at the weeds - the weeds drift

What remains with me
The riverbank erodes, the sandbar drifts afar
The weeds return to the distant waters
The water flows out to the vast ocean and sky
As for me, I remain lost in life
Calling out to the strange birds, calling out to unfamiliar people

Strange birds, strange streams, strange forests
Though strange, I keep calling, unable to stop

5-10-2003

Source: That place, waves... (poetry), Vũ Quần Phương, NXB Hội nhà văn, 2007

The Bright Sunshine

The sun shines on the bright red bricks
The leaves glisten, reflecting on faces
A day will come, bright as this sun
Yet I may no longer be here on Earth

Without me, the bricks will still glow
Perhaps within the bricks, I will remain
The sound of cuckoo birds in the lychee garden
Does it remind you of when I was young?

1997

Source: That place, waves... (poetry), Vũ Quần Phương, NXB Hội nhà văn, 2007

The Buddha Laughs

The three-door archway
stands at the outside
Not knowing that the Buddha sits inside
The storm rises in the sky
The storm rages on the earth
The tempest cannot touch the place where the Buddha sits

- Oh my!
The Buddha bursts into laughter
- Don't mistake the jackfruit wood for me inside the temple

1-3-2006

Source: That Place, Waves... (poetry), Vũ Quần Phương, NXB Hội nhà văn, 2007

A Message to You

If you close your eyes in the windy garden,
You will hear the sweet songs of birds,
The chirping of little birds hidden in the leaves,
The robin singing and flying through the air.

If you close your eyes and listen to grandmother’s stories,
You’ll see the fairies and the magical beings,
See the little boy in seven-league boots,
And the fragrant persimmons, with kind-hearted Cinderella.

If you close your eyes and think of your parents,
Who have cared for you every day,
Carrying you, working tirelessly day and night,
Eyes shut, and then open again.

This poem was later set to music by composers Vũ Hoàng and Phan Bá Chức as songs of the same title.

Source: Vietnamese Language Textbook for Grade 2, Volume 1, Education Publishing House, 2002

Before the Sea

What can I say before the sea, my love?
Before the endless blue, silent and pure
The grandeur of the wild wind
The patience of the waves crashing for centuries
The solemnity of the stones standing tall in the sky
The simplicity as profound as life itself

The horizon calls, urging travelers to go
Many hopes fade, swallowed by the waves
The salty forehead, drenched in sweat and sorrow
Many lives lost in the deep and dark sea
But still, the sails are unfurled forever
Drifting on the sea like doves soaring above the earth
The sea is boundless, and we never tire
The bow of the boat cuts through the waves, plowing the sea
The horizons are still out there, waiting to be reached

Oh, my love, the deep and vast sea,
Who knows where the salty sea comes from?
Oh, salt grains that bring the taste of life,
For how long has the sea known how to love us?

I stand silent on the sand like dreaming
Alone under the blazing midday sun
It’s just me and the endless crashing waves
With the deep, silent love for you
This evening, when the tide rises
The sea will erase my footprints on the sand
Life changes, joys and sorrows differ
But isn’t every joy and sorrow rooted in love?

When will I stand beside you
Before the vast sea of life, full of compassion?
How many times will the wind turn and the waves rise?
Which horizon has a sail that’s set to sail?

Oh, the world is as vast as the sea,
Deep like the sea, wide like the farthest tide
The saltiness of the sea is so strong
The grain of life shared between us
I understand why the waves turn grey so early

I understand why we love each other
The sea is vast, it needs the sky and the earth
The shore may seem far, but it’s still real
Even if the sea cannot reach the shore, it’s still better to have both
At noon, I hold your hand tightly by this sea

The white-capped waves will always stay green
Even when our lives have ended, it will remain
The time will come when we can no longer wait for each other
The wind will whisper through the young pine leaves
Far away, the waves will keep waiting
For something that hasn’t yet come
The sun rises and new horizons appear
Faded horizons of our childhood dreams...

Once again, the sails cut through the waves
The wind is young, and the sails are eager
The boat casts its net, like a flock of birds chasing after scraps
The calm sea is as comforting as our home
What can I say before the vast sea,
Before all the simple things in life?
I stand still, letting the essence of the sea soak in
The sound of the waves flows over a distant shore...

Source:
1. The Moon in the Ox Cart, Literary Publishing House, 1988
2. Vietnamese Poetry 1945-1985, Literary Publishing House, 1985

Waiting

I stand on the bridge, waiting for you
Below the bridge, the river flows tirelessly
It flowed in the past, it flows now
The river flows through my soul, I wait for you

I stand on the bridge, under the summer sun
The sun shines both here and there
Waiting for you. Will you come? Will you not?
The sun fades, yet I remain standing here!

I stand on the bridge, waiting for you
Standing one day, strange land becomes familiar
Standing a lifetime, familiar land turns strange
The river flows... there you are, I wait for you.

This poem was adapted into a song by musician Huy Thuc, with the same title.

Source: Vu Quan Phuong, The Moon in the Ox Cart, Literary Publishing House, 1988