Wisdoms and Books

The Bamboo Boat

I inherited (from one of the family elders) a no-longer published copy of the complete work of my great-great-uncle, the renowned poet Tản Đà.  He was my great-great-grandfather’s brother. 

He was one of the pioneers of the New Poetry movement in Vietnam. They were the equivalent to Vietnamese poetry as what the Impressionists were to art. And Tản Đà would be their Claude Monet. There is a government-built shrine for him in Vietnam that you can visit.

Growing up, I would overhear conversations from the elders in the family about “Cụ Tản Đà.” And honestly, I didn’t think I was going to understand that much of this book. But strangely, I do.  So maybe my Vietnamese is much better than I thought.

I am particularly fond of the first poem on the page I have opened to in the photo. The poem encapsulates Tản Đà’s optimistic and boundless child-like wonder towards life - an attitude we all can emulate.

Here is my clumsy translation of the poem, if you want to know how I would translate it:

"Sông Cái, Chiếc Thuyền Nan" - Tản Đà, 1926

(The Bamboo Boat)


Thả chiếc thuyền nan bé tẻo heo

(Release the tiny bamboo boat)


Cũng buồm, cũng cột, cũng giây lèo

(With sail, with tie, with rope too)


Nghìn trùng sóng gió ba khoang nứa

(Thousands of wind and waves, three chambers)


Bốn mặt non sông một mái chèo

(Four sides of mountains and rivers, one oar)


Những hẹn nước mây thu mấy độ

(How far away is the promise of water, clouds, and autumn?)


Thử xem giời biển rộng bao nhiêu

(Let’s see how wide the ocean is)


Con đường vô hạn vui chăng tá?

(How infinite the roads, how much joy?)


Mà hỡi giòng sông tiếng nước reo

(But oh river, how the water chimes.)