By Tản Đà, translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Drunken Poetry
A Human’s life is like a dream
A thousand years’ nothing, what’s a hundred?
Work work work, committed in body and spirit,
Coveting a ripe old age for what!
Having money doesn’t mean it can be spent,
People’s greed for fame’s like a kite with broken strings.
How could I bother anyone with my love
To be empty of wine, to have a bag full of poetry!
Life is like the wind, the rain,
Why be sad, why not drown such sadness in drunken pain
Drunk, the poetry may re-ignite,
The burning poetry, the burning drunkenness, the amorous voice.
Drunken poetry and I unite
Drunk out of mind, out of sight is the ephemeral.
A hundred years of poetry in drunkenness
Who will be the drunken poet for a thousand years?
_____
JANUARY 2022
Thơ Rượu
Đời người như giấc chiêm bao
Nghìn xưa đã mấy ai nào trăm năm?
Một đoàn lao lực lao tâm,
Quý chi chữ thọ mà lăm sống nhiều!
Có tiền chưa dễ mà tiêu,
Ham danh lắm kẻ như diều đứt dây.
Thương ai cho bận lòng đây
Cho vơi hũ rượu, cho đầy túi thơ!
Cảnh đời gió gió, mưa mưa,
Buồn trông ta phải say sưa đỡ buồn!
Rượu say, thơ lại khơi nguồn,
Nên thơ, rượu cũng thêm ngon giọng tình.
Rượu thơ mình lại với mình
Khi say quên cả cái hình phù du.
Trăm năm thơ túi rượu vò
Nghìn năm thi sĩ tửu đồ là ai?
_____
Tản Đà, the Vietnamese poet was born Nguyễn Khắc Hiếu on 19 May 1889 in Ba Vi, died 7 June 1939 in hanoi, Vietnam. He used both traditional Sino-Vietnamese forms and European influences and was a transitional figure between the turn of the 1890s such as Tú Xương and Nguyễn Khuyến and the “New Poetry” movement of the 1930s.
Source: Google
22 replies on “Tản Đà | Drunken Poetry (1)”
Life just happens….😊you can a poem out of it or just do nothing…it all depends on you🌻🌻
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okidokie, will do 🙂
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Hello, there, Nguyen!
This is Eugenio Fouz, from efnotebloc.
I want to thank you all the likes to my posts.
Thank you very much!
I have an account on Twitter, just in case you would like to interact
Best regards!
E F
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you are welcome. sure when I’m ever there 🙂
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wonderful ✌️✌️
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thank you ❤
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It’s true. Pain and creativity are intoxicants that can make you imagine and do the most wondrous things. 🙂
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I wonder if reading people’s pain on the blogs induces the same effect…
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There is something about pain that is repulsive but also addictive.
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good 👍👍
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Love that title!
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Thank you so much, the original text was a bit tricky to translate. I’ve read the same poem over and over again for many years, but could never poetically translate it into English. I’ve learned to adapt in order to reserve his nature, TD is known for his sophisticated sarcastic drunken verses. Writing poetry inebriated is one of my favourite hobby, though ineloquent and far from readable compare to TD’s work. 🙂
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Thanks. You’ve made me feel better about drinking while writing!
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Ah.. Doing what you love without making it a negative obsession is a wonderful thing what ever it may be. Society dictates a set of rules which aren’t necessarily right for everyone. As long as you are in control and do it out of love the boundaries are redefined. Cheers to your writing with a glass of inebriation. 😊
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Love this.. makes me smile.
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oh? that is wonderful, means we have the share the same sense of humour. heheh, cheers to that my friend!
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😄😄
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Just a unique perspective. This is a fascinating creation. It makes me think. That says a lot!
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Tản Đà was an academic fluent in French, privileged, arrogant to some, eccentric to others. I’m so happy his poetry has reached you. Cheers to thought provoking pondering 😊
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I love this poem and this line! “The burning poetry, the burning drunkenness, the amorous voice.”
And the wonderful last line too: “Who will be the drunken poet for a thousand years?”
I’ve so enjoyed reading your poems this morning 🙂
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ah, so glad you’ve enjoyed the poetry, I hope you have an even better day yeah. Thank you for taking the time to read them. 🙂
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You’re most welcome 🙂
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