An Anthology of Vietnamese Poems: From the Eleventh through the Twentieth Centuries [Paperback]

Huynh Sanh Thong (Editor), Sanh Huynh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2001

This superb anthology brings together a thousand years of Vietnamese poems for the English-speaking world. Huynh Sanh Th"ng, widely regarded as the preeminent translator of the poetry of Vietnam, here presents more than three hundred poems by 150 poets, some celebrated, some obscure. Many of the poems are not otherwise available in English. The author's historical and critical introduction to Vietnamese poetry, and his abundant explanatory notes throughout the collection, assist readers in understanding and appreciating each work. Huynh observes that Vietnamese people in all walks of life compose, read, and listen to poetry; this collection of poems thus reveals much about Vietnamese language, literature, history, and culture. He has organized the poems-which range from ancient to very recent works-around nine main themes that include Vietnamese views of society, responses to foreign influences, and feelings about such universal questions as relationships between men and women, the role of art in life, and conflicts among social classes. A generous selection of twentieth-century poems represents the work of well-known poets, major political figures, and men and women of the Vietnamese diaspora after the Communist victory in 1975.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This scholarly and very readable translation of over 300 poems from about 150 poets is loosely divided into nine chapters. It starts with the Chinese influence of early poems ("Vietnam and China," "The Buddhist Ethos") and moves on to Vietnam's relations with the West, principally France and the United States. Although readers may not appreciate the intricacies of classic poetic form, the themes are universal: war, peace, love, and time. Huynh, the best-known translator of Vietnamese poetry and winner of a MacArthur fellowship, supplies useful notes for these superb translations that make the poems very accessible and truly beautiful. Highly recommended for Asian collections.?Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Hùynh Sanh Thông is the outstanding translator of Vietnamese literature." -- Alexander Woodside, University of British Columbia

"Superb. . . . [This] collection is truly a rare compendium of Vietnamese poetry and will be much in demand." -- Dinh-Hoa Nguyen, World Literature Today

"This is a generous appreciation of Vietnamese poetry and poetics from the past thousand years." -- Choice

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 444 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300091001
• ISBN-13: 978-0300091007
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #912,274 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening and insightful....beautiful., June 1, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Anthology of Vietnamese Poems: From the Eleventh through the Twentieth Centuries (Hardcover)

This book was actually a textbook for a class on Vietnamese culture and history at the University of Michigan. Since taking the course, I've read it over at least 8 times and continue to find new treasures. I especially adore Ho Xuan Huong, a feminist who wrote humorous, sometimes painfully sad, poetry on sex and her position as a concubine. This is a must-have for Vietnamese-Americans (or I guess anyone)just waking up to the beauty within Vietnamese literature.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The muse lends me her lyre of myriad tunes, her brush of myriad tints...", July 12, 2008

By 

Crazy Fox (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Anthology of Vietnamese Poems: From the Eleventh through the Twentieth Centuries (Paperback)

This impressively extensive anthology is an almost overwhelming monument to a vivid and varied poetic tradition. Spanning about a millennium and featuring 126 individual poets along with over a dozen anonymous works, it includes both narrative poems and lyric poems, and these spanning modern and traditional, folksy and refined, serious and funny, deeply religious and highly sensual, politically strident with fervent patriotism or fiery radicalism and decidedly not--heck, there are even poems about poetry itself.

The translator and editor, Huynh Sanh Thong, has chosen to organize this massive achievement by general theme rather than, say, chronologically or by poet or type of poem. These themes are: Vietnam and China, the Buddhist Ethos, Responses to the West, After the Russian Revolution, Men and Women, Life and Art, the Passage of Time, Peasants Merchants and Scholars, and (last but not least) War and Peace. Some poets are represented by a good many examples of their work spread throughout these themes, though most only get one or two entries. This format has advantages in showcasing differing versified handlings of similar issues, but does make it a bit difficult for each poet to stand out as a single artist. A handy index in the back makes it possible to trace each one, though, and the translation varies sufficiently and appropriately in style and voice so that the works stand out very distinctly rather than running together into a blur. Thong's enormously helpful introduction clearly explains and discusses the history of Vietnamese poetry as well as its particular characteristics and conventions, too, so that all these varied multicolored gems all fit into an overall framework in the attentive reader's mind. Indeed, this intro is a model of clarity and readability even as it delves into levels of meticulous detail enough to satisfy even the most demanding literature student.

For anyone wanting to seriously get to know Vietnam's enormously rich (and hitherto little known) contribution to our world's poetry, this excellent anthology is the perfect foundation. For those with a keener interest in Vietnamese history, too, this book has much to reveal about the emotional reverberations of Vietnam's historical experience through the centuries. And for anyone who just likes fine literature in general, this should make for a rare and delightful find indeed.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A masterpiece., January 6, 2002

By 

alainviet "alainviet" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Anthology of Vietnamese Poems: From the Eleventh through the Twentieth Centuries (Paperback)

This is a collection of Vietnamese poems selected and beautifully translated by Huynh Sanh Thong, a 1987 recipient of a MacArthur foundation grant and a Yale University professor.

These poems written by well-known as well as less known poets, by kings and lay people alike from the 11th to the 20th centuries, are thought to represent the essence of the Vietnamese soul. They deal with men, women, life, art, religion, culture, politics, and of course WAR with its tragedy and sorrow. They reflect not only the mood and feelings of the common people but also convey a glimpse of Vietnamese history.

The author is to be congratulated for his life long work in promoting Vietnamese literature and culture.