Văn Học Ngoại Biên — Literature Beyond

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A poem in Vietnamese by Quách Thoại
Translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Hey! a century of people is within me
Tucked away in a grave by a hill
Where heaven showed up on a throne
So I cried and I cried and I couldn’t stop CRYING.

Tôi khóc

Ôi! con người thế kỷ ở trong tôi
Đã cất xong ngôi mộ cạnh hòn đồi
Mà thiên đàng hiển hiện ngự trên ngôi
Cho nên tôi khóc, tôi khóc hoài không thôi.

—-
Nguồn: Phạm Thanh, Thi nhân Việt Nam hiện đại (quyển hạ), NXB Xuân Thu tái bản, 1990


Quách Thoại (1930-1957) Born Đoàn Thoại in Hue, Vietnam. He loved Tagore from an early age, at 18 he left for Saigon as a freelancer for newspapers like Đoàn kết, Làm dân. Within two years became the General Secretary for Nguồn sống. 

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm, the blogger, poet, and translator, was born in 1971 in Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam. The pharmacist currently lives and works in Western Sydney, Australia.

7 responses

  1. Dracul Van Helsing avatar

    Sad but profound and poignant poem.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm avatar

      Translating QT poetry I get the sense that he was bi-polar.. definitely not at all boring.. LOL

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Dracul Van Helsing avatar

        When I was younger, I used to worry about being bi-polar.

        But now, I realize I’m just quirky and eccentric.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm avatar

        Great self-realization yeah.. I agree with you.. you are quirky and eccentric 😀

        Liked by 2 people

  2.  avatar
    Anonymous

    A powerful and moving poem! 💖

    Liked by 1 person

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