Poems of Hồ Xuân Hương : 叙情(隻栢) - Confession (III)
| 叙情(隻栢) | Confession (III) | 隻栢𢞂𧗱分浽濘 𡧲𣳔敖喭餒冷汀 𠦻𦨻情義樣淶𣼽 𡛤𱽂風波𨻫汲澎 𣛨䋥默埃啉杜𤅶 㠶繚尸几㕸吹𡹞 意埃𠶀板甘𢚸丕 喭餒揞彈仍漝浜 | Her lonely boat fated to float aimlessly midstream, weary with sadness, drifting. Her hold overflowing with duty and feeling, bow rocked by storms, adrift and wandering. She rows on, not caring who tries to dock, sails on, not caring who tries the rapids. Whoever comes on board is pleased as she plucks her guitar, sad and drifting. |
| Tự tình (Chiếc bách) | Chiếc bách buồn về phận nổi nênh, Giữa dòng ngao ngán nỗi lêng đênh. Lưng khoang tình nghĩa dường lai láng, Nửa mạn phong ba luống bập bềnh. Chèo lái mặc ai lăm đỗ bến, Giong lèo thây kẻ rắp xuôi ghềnh. Ấy ai thăm ván cam lòng vậy, Ngán nỗi ôm đàn những tấp tênh. |
| Notes | |
| The first words allude to an ancient poem, “Thuyền Bách,” or “The Cedar Boat,” which in Chinese legend was written by Princess Cung-Khương after the death of her husband, Cung-Bá, Prince of Vệ, during the Chou Dynasty. Against her parents’ urging she refused to remarry, accepting the lonely fate described above. The drifting boat is a conventional figure for a woman obliged to live alone. Vậy (line seven) echoes “ở vậy,” or “never to remarry”. Throughout the poem, however, Hồ Xuân Hương subverts this model of high virtue by using ship and sailing terms with obscene, double meanings suggesting other activities. | |