An anthology of Vietnamese poems
Subtitle: from theeleventh through the twentieth centuries
By: edited and translated by Hu`ynh Sanh Thông.
Contributors: Hu`ynh, Sanh Thông.
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1996
Place of publication: New Haven; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 429
Subjects: Vietnamese poetry -- Translations into English.; English poetry -- Translations from Vietnamese.
Description: This superb anthology brings together a thousand years of Vietnamese poems for the English-speaking world. Huynh Sanh Thong, 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 themes 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.
Notes: Bibliography: p427-429. - Includes index.

English translation from the Vietnamese.