HỎI
Tôi hỏi đất: Đất sống với đất như thế
nào?
—Chúng tôi tôn cao nhau.
Tôi hỏi nước: Nước sống với nước
như thế nào?
—Chúng tôi làm đầy nhau.
Tôi hỏi cỏ: Cỏ sống với cỏ như thế
nào?
—Chúng tôi đan vào nhau
Làm nên những chân trời.
Tôi hỏi người:
—Người sống với người như thế
nào?
Tôi hỏi người:
—Người sống với người như thế
nào?
Tôi hỏi người:
—Người sống với người như thế
nào?
Glossary
|
WORD
|
DEFINITION
|
POSSIBLE SYNONYMS
|
|---|---|---|
| chân trời (n.) | the lines at which the earth’s surface and the sky appear to meet | horizons, skylines |
| chúng tôi (pron.) | used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself and one or more other people considered together | we |
| cỏ (n.) | vegetation consisting of typically short plants with long narrow leaves, growing wild or cultivated on lawns and pasture | grass, grassland, lawn, sod |
| đan vào (v.) | to join, fasten, or repair using a needle and thread | sew, weave, stitch, intertwine |
| đất (n.) | the third planet from the sun | earth, planet, land |
| hỏi (v.) | to seek information; make a request or require something | ask, asking, question, questioning, inquiring |
| làm đầy (v.) | to put someone or something into a space or container so that it is completely, or almost completely, full | fill, fill up |
| làm nên (v.) | to form something by putting parts together or combining substances; to construct; to create | to create, to make, to construct, to build |
| người (n.) | a human being of either gender; a person | person, human, man |
| nhau (adv.) | in proximity to another thing, person, or people | together, with each other, with one another |
| như thế nào (adv.) | in what way or manner; by what means | how?, in what way?, to what extent? |
| những (art.) | denoting one or more people or things already mentioned or assumed to be common knowledge | the |
| nước (n.) | transparent liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain; the basis of the fluids of living organisms | water |
| sống với (v. + prep.) | lives with something or someone | lives with, resides with, exists with |
| tôi (pron.) | referring to oneself | I |
| tôn cao (v.) | to hold someone or something in high regard | honor, respect, admire, revere |
Background
About Free Verse
Free verse is a literary device that can be defined as poetry that is free from
limitations of regular meter or rhythm and does not rhyme with fixed forms. Such
poems are without rhythms and rhyme schemes; do not follow regular rhyme
scheme rules and still provide artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his
own shape to a poem how he/she desires. However, it still allows poets to use
alliteration, rhyme, cadences or rhythms to get the effects that they consider are
suitable for the piece.
Bio
Hữu Thỉnh was born on a farm in the Vĩnh Phúc province of northern Vietnam. During the Vietnam War (1955–1975), Thỉnh served as a tank driver and a colonel in the North Vietnamese Army. After the war he became a journalist. Fueled by his experiences in the war, he turned to writing poetry to express his feelings and insights. He prefers writing free-style poetry because it is not bound by the rules that govern other forms of poetry. He uses words to paint vivid and clear pictures of his emotions. Vietnamese American translator Nguyen Qui Duc explains that Thỉnh and other Vietnamese poets wanted “to portray Vietnam as not only a war, but a culture and a people—full of passion and flaws and conflict and love.”