Hồ Xuân Hương’s Poetry

About 200 years ago, there was a Vietnamese poet named Hồ Xuân Hương. Born into a culture heavily influenced by Confucianism, during a time when women were to abide to the three obediences and the four virtues, she had the audacity to write poetry that was as sexual as obnoxious.

For a kid reading her poems, they were entertaining folk songs that were easily memorized. Not until I was older that I could understand the nuances and their deeper meanings. She wrote about women’s constraints and limitations in a patriarchal society where men could have multiple wives. She wrote about women’s obligations to men, from the perspective of both pleasure and duty. To me, she was the feminist of her time. She holds a special place for me.

There’s not a lot written about her, perhaps because she was so outlandish and offensive. History does not favor women, let alone the loud-mouths who write openly and condescendingly about taboo subjects.

While translating these poems, I strived for ideas over accuracies.

Paper Fan⁽¹⁾
Seventeen, eighteen folds⁽²⁾
Thick or thin, three corners
Large or small, fill one head⁽³⁾
So hot, so cool
Nightly, daily
Rosy cheeks, open wide
Hold tight, don’t pry
Kings and Lords, what pride!
_{(1) Paper fan was used to cool down during a time without electricity
(2) A paper fan typically has 17 or 18 folds
(3) The head anchors all of the ribs in place}

Girl Sleeping in Daytime
Balmy east wind summertime
Lady laying past noontide
Comb playing loose on her locks
Curving, slipping up and down
Angel twin peaks have not bloomed
A little stream has not flown
The gentleman can’t decide
Leave or stay, hardly mind.

——————————————————-

Cái Quạt
Mười bảy hay là mười tám đây,
Cho ta yêu dấu chẳng rời tay.
Mỏng dày chừng ấy, chành ba góc,
Rộng hẹp dường nào, cắm một cay.
Càng nóng bao nhiêu thời càng mát,
Yêu đêm chưa phỉ lại yêu ngày.
Hồng hồng má phấn duyên vì cậy,
Chúa dấu vua yêu một cái này.

Thiếu Nữ Ngủ Ngày
Mùa hè hây hẩy gió nồm đông,
Thiếu nữ nằm chơi quá giấc nồng.
Lược trúc lỏng cài trên mái tóc,
Yếm đào trễ xuống dưới nương long.
Đôi gò Bồng Đảo hương còn ngậm,
Một lạch Đào Nguyên suối chửa thông.
Quân tử dùng dằng đi chẳng dứt,
Đi thì cũng dở ở không xong.