A Garden of Vietnamese Lyrics Verse Volume 1

The Vietnamese people love poetry and romantic music. This book is a collection of Vietnamese song lyrics and verse, translated by a bilingual poet with over three decades of writing poetry. This book is among the first of its kind to include both poems and song lyrics by many well-known authors. The book also include some poems written in English and translated back to Vietnamese. There are over a hundred fifty song lyrics and poems, written by many authors from the 14th century to the present, covering several themes: love, homeland, memories, dreams, patriotism, exile, Zen enlightenment, ... The book includes a verse translation of the famous poem "Exhortation to the Military Officers" by prince-general Tran Hung Dao and nearly the first 500 lines of the Vietnamese all-time masterpiece, The Tale of Kieu by Nguyen Du.
A poem or song is not unlike a flower, wherever it blooms. It was a delightful and artistic journey for me to bring over homeland flowers and replant them in the universal English garden to share with poetry lovers around the world. I wish the reader a pleasant time walking in "A Garden of Vietnamese Lyrics & Verse" and enjoy the exotic fragrances of flowers from the Orient. A sample edition in pdf format is available for download and distribution from the author's page on Amazon.com.

Some verse translations of The Tale of Kieu

Vân's beauty's very remarkable.
Her eyebrows - full crescent arcs, her moonlit face - oval.
Jades tingles in her voice; flowers bloom from her smile.
Her speech: educated, chaste and refined.
Clouds yield to her hair's lustrous shine and flow.
Snow cedes to the silken whiteness of her skin's glow.
Kiều, the eldest, is especially witty and charming.
Her talents and beauty even surpass her sibling.
Her eyes: soul-deep liquid pools of autumn lake water.
Her eyebrows: silhouettes of mount'n crests in spring.
Flowers envy her captivating looks.
Willows grieve at her youthful freshness.
One smile can rock a fortress, two smiles: a nation.
Other girls may have comparable talents,
But none can compare to her beauty's perfection.

As the scholar's shoes move over the grass meadow,
The whole area seems to be jade branches with gems' glow.
Quan knows him and comes forward to greet.
The two Kieu, from maidenly shyness, behind the flowers, hid.
Actually, he's not really a stranger.
He's Kim Trong, a descendant of a noble line.
His family's wealthy, his genius well-recognized.
Famed for his literary skill, endowed with God-given intelligence.
He's blessedly gifted and extraordinarily handsome.
When at home, he's kind and courteous.
When going out, he's winsome and generous.

Vuong Thanh's translation of his own poem "Em Đến" which had been made into a beautiful song
Whence She Comes

Like the ethereal moonlight, she comes ever so softly
Amidst smoke and mist, appears an enchanting beauty
Gazing deep into her eyes, I see a sky of twinkling stars
Her lotus feet, dancing in the sea foam, sparkle from afar

Like a patch of clouds from the mountains, she silently arrives
Bringing with her ancient legends since the world's first light
The Star River, the Jade Sea where she'd appeared
Her delicate fragrance still lingers in the atmosphere

She comes with an enchanted brook of music and poetry
Singing exotic verses as fingers dance on the harp a Grecian melody
From whence sweet voice waves resound in my subconscious
To lead my soul into a Dream World of Beauty and Love

Since her arrival, divine fragrance abounds in Nature
A friendship, affectionate and close, like music and verse
The Dream Boat's been bearer of dreams since Time's beginning
In a sea of clouds, the poet's moon gently drifting...