Ho Xuan Huong
Who is Ho Xuan Huong
Hồ Xuân Hương (胡春香; 1772–1822) was a Vietnamese poet born at the end of the Lê dynasty. She grew up in an era of political and social turmoil – the time of the Tây Sơn rebellion and a three-decade civil war that led to Nguyễn Ánh seizing power as Emperor Gia Long and starting the Nguyễn dynasty. She wrote poetry using chữ nôm (Southern Script), which adapts Chinese characters for writing demotic Vietnamese. She is considered to be one of Vietnam's greatest classical poets. Xuân Diệu, a prominent modern poet, dubbed her "The Queen of Nôm poetry".
Biography
The facts of her life are difficult to verify, but this much is well established: she was born in Nghệ An Province near the end of the rule of the Trịnh lords, and moved to Hanoi ...
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Ho Xuan Huong Poems
- Snail
Mother and father gave birth to a snail
Night and day I crawl in smelly weeds
Dear prince, if you love me, unfasten my door
Stop, don't poke your finger up my tail!...
- Day And Night
Peekaboo we used to play;
my hands covered my face,
your hands covered your face,
incredible, there we were gone.
...
- The Fan
Are you seventeen or eighteen?(1)
Let me cherish you by all means.
Thin or thick you display a triangle, and
Large or small I hold you with one hand.
...
- The Temple Of Fragrance
Who could have fashioned this marvel?
The mountain cracks into a wide, hollow cave.
Pious Buddhists struggle to set foot inside,
others gaze at it tirelessly.
...
- On Sharing A Husband
Screw the fate that makes you share a man.
One cuddles under cotton blankets; the other's cold.
Every now and then, well, maybe or maybe not,
...
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Ho Xuan Huong Quotes
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Comments about Ho Xuan Huong
- Bakuindoor: in that generation not a lot of well-known people of letters came about. the general system of governance, the nobilities, and thus formal education were all falling apart. phạm đình hổ's contemporary hồ xuân hương was known for her more folksy, off-the-cuff poetry
- Mikerburch: Ốc nhồi ("the snail")
by ho xuan huong (1772-1882)
loose translation/interpretation by michael r. burch
my parents produced a snail,
night and day it slithers through slimy grass.
if you love me, remove my shell,
but please don't jiggle my little hole!
- Mikerburch: the breadfruit or jackfruit
ho xuan huong
loose translation/interpretation by michael r. burch
my body's like a breadfruit ripening on a tree:
my skin coarse, my pulp thick.
my lord, if you want me, pierce me with your stick,
but don't squeeze or the sap will sully your hands!
- Mikerburch: bánh trôi nước ("floating sweet dumpling")
by ho xuan huong (1772-1882)
loose translation/interpretation by michael r. burch
my powdered body is white and round.
now i bob. now i sink.
the hand that kneads me may be rough,
but my heart at the center remains untouched.
- Refess: winners of ho xuan huong literature and arts awards honoured -
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