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 ...
Read Full Biography of Ho Xuan Huong


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, ...
Read All Poems


Top 10 most used topics by Ho Xuan Huong

White 4 Night 4 Love 4 I Love You 4 Face 4 Heaven 3 Mountain 3 Girl 3 Red 3 Sweet 3


Ho Xuan Huong Quotes

Read All Quotes


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 -
Read All Comments


Write your comment about Ho Xuan Huong


Poem of the day

Edgar Albert Guest Poem
The Killing Place
 by Edgar Albert Guest

We're hiking along at a two-forty pace
We 're making life seem like a man-killing race,
With our nerves all on edge and our jaws firmly set
We go rushing along; with our brows lined with sweat
And our cheeks pale and drawn every minute we dash,
And the goal that we 're after is merely more cash.

We 're out for the money, the greenbacks and gold,
...

Read complete poem

Popular Poets