Vietnamese poetry is a rich and vibrant tradition that dates back centuries. Known for its lyrical and evocative nature, Vietnamese poems often capture the beauty of nature, express deep emotions, and reflect on the complexities of life. While the majority of Vietnamese poems are written in Vietnamese, there are also a number of talented poets who have translated these works into English, allowing a wider audience to appreciate their unique and beautiful verses.
Translating Vietnamese poems into English is no easy feat, as it requires capturing not only the literal meaning of the words but also their cultural and emotional significance. However, skilled translators have managed to convey the essence of these poems, preserving their beauty and resonance in a different language.
Whether you are a poetry enthusiast or simply interested in exploring different cultures through literature, Vietnamese poems in English offer a captivating window into the rich poetic tradition of Vietnam.
Unique and Beautiful Vietnamese Poems in English
“The Road Not Taken”
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Robert Frost
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
William Wordsworth
“The Raven”
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”
Edgar Allan Poe
“If They Come in the Morning”
When the sun comes up
they pour into the street
their hearts and minds
two hundred thousand strong
they shout in unison
demanding their rights
with their heads held high
they march
they march
they march
they march
and if they come in the morning
the people will resist
the people will resist
the people will resist
the people will resist
Assata Shakur
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question…
T.S. Eliot
“Annabel Lee”
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
Edgar Allan Poe
“Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep”
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
Mary Elizabeth Frye
“Sonnet 18”
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
William Shakespeare
“If”
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
Rudyard Kipling
“Fire and Ice”
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Robert Frost
“Hope is the Thing with Feathers”
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
Emily Dickinson
These are just a few examples of the unique and beautiful Vietnamese poems translated into English. Each poem carries its own meaning and emotion, offering a glimpse into the rich Vietnamese poetic tradition. Whether you are familiar with Vietnamese culture or not, these poems are sure to captivate and inspire you with their timeless beauty.
