English Version of 'Hoàng Hôn Trên Glacier Bay'
Sunset on Glacier Bay
Oh! The ocean
Where I see the ice mountain’s shadow playing with sunlight
Dancing on the waves in small, elegant steps
A vision of pinks and oranges with innumerable shades of subtly Magnificently entwined and released
On the silvery waves where the maiden’s form of distance passed
Is created by the curves & lines of ancient Greek goddesses
Nature's beauty has overflowed
And my eyes embrace all and everything they can reach
Until I close my eyes and I listen to my heartbeat
It quivers with the yearning of being embraced
Time stands still, here, now, at this moment
Oh! God of nature, mountains, and god of oceans
Here, my long and unworthy life I'd trade
For a pure ray of the light my hands long to reach
To be part of, to be dissolved in,
But retreating away, the golden light follows its waves,
And dives off into its depth
Yet still, thoughts in my heart linger,
with trembling and hesitancy in every grasping beat!
Nhật Thụy Vi
(Thanks Anastasia for helping with editing)
Hoàng Hôn Trên Glacier Bay
Ôi biển!
Kìa băng sơn và mặt trời chập
chùng trên sóng
Ánh hào quang
quyện khói nhạt cùng mây
Màu hồng cam ửng
nước bạc đang trôi
Từng gợn sóng, mỹ
miều đường cong mỹ nữ
Ta hấp tấp, ta xôn
xao bấu giữ
Thời gian ơi chỉ
có một ngần này
Thần thiên
nhiên, thần núi, thần mặt trời
Cho một phút, một
giây này bất tử
Cho ta đổi một đời
dài cằn cỗi
Nhận một áng hồng
sắp sửa chìm sâu
Ôi! Nhưng sao
lòng run rẫy xiết bao
Ta ngần ngại nên
hồng chìm dưới sóng.
Nhật Thụy Vi
June 2013
https://kimblekorner.wikispaces.com/Nhat+Thuy+Vi
Commentary by Kathy Ho 2/22/2015
This poem is about the brilliance and splendor of nature. The narrator is praising nature in all its glory, this one specifically, a sunset on Glacier Bay. To the narrator, every aspect of nature is alive from the mountain’s shadow playing with the sunlight of the setting sun to the waves who take the form of a woman whose beauty can only have been created by goddesses. It is unmistakable that the narrator is overwhelmed by the beauty of what they are witnessing and that the narrator is willing to be overtaken by this beauteous scene. They embrace the tremendous beauty of nature and submit to its awesome power. In the Vietnamese culture, nature has an immense influence on the people, with the ability to leave many afflated. There is so little opportunity to appreciate beauty in the world that when beauty is presented to you, you must appreciate it to the fullest extent. This is firmly expressed in Vi’s poem when she wrote that the moment of the sunset was immortal and forever erect. Also firmly expressed in the poem is the idea that the beauty of nature is immortal. Vi’s writes of how, even though the moment of the sunset is gone, the effect of the beauty they had just witnessed still lingers in their hearts and in every heartbeat. Vi is showing the entrapping ability of beauteous nature through this. This shows how beauty never escapes their heart and that they are willfully forever ensnared by its power.
"Sunset on Glacier Bay" Commentary - by Lauren
lauren0g Feb 22, 2015
This is an exceptionally charming poem that seems to flow very smoothly in both languages (although I'm taking a guess on the Vietnamese; will you read it to me sometime?). I feel as if you have grasped the nature of the poem very strongly, and I agree with several of your points. The detail provide by Vi is very beautiful, and her imagery paints a beautiful picture of the actual sunset on Glacier Bay in the first stanza, waiting until the last two lines to really bring it down to earth and focus on herself for a small sliver of this poem. The second stanza is a mix of the two, reflecting on her own self and the nature of what she wants to become: a beam of light, so potent and powerful, yet a single silk thread in this masterpiece of nature. Another notable element about this poem that I feel you missed is the fact that the poem itself has a steady but irregular beat to it, like the heart beat that the speaker of the poem mentioned. It adds a sort of trembling curiosity to the poem, like she is completely and totally overwhelmed by the beauty of nature in this scene, ensnaring her senses and feelings about this encounter with nature. These points are incredibly important, especially with the fact that the speaker is willing to give her whole being to become a piece of this slice of nature, leaving the reader with her sense of curiosity and wonder.
Commentary by Elizabeth Hwang
Elizabeth_Hwang Feb 22, 2015
I think it’s really amazing how you were able to do your poetry project using Vietnamese poems. Even though our poems are from different countries, I can still imagine that it was challenging to interpret the Vietnamese culture and figurative language. The “Scars of War” used beautiful imagery and your explanation really clarified it. My favorite line is, “It would have stopped if each leaf in this vast
jungle hold those droplets of tears.” I further saw how the author felt when she shared the number of tears shed and how there were so many that all of the leaves would have to capture the droplets. She clearly shows how the war hurt her. It took so much away from her and her bright future, but what she seems to be the saddest about is losing ties to family. I know that most Asian families are very close to one another and it must have been devastating for her to lose those connections. I also thoroughly enjoyed “Sunset on Glacier Bay.” It was so much fun reading a poem conveying their love for nature because I love nature too! I think it’s really neat how significantly nature influences people. I also agree that it should be appreciated to the fullest extent.
Wiki Post 1: from Mrs. Kimble
juliekimble Feb 19, 2015
Kathy, thanks for an excellent explication--I know it was difficult to discuss meter in another language. Since you and I worked it out in class as we listened to these poems in Vietnamese, I feel that speaking to the theme here is enough. I'm interested in the second poem especially, in that the poet uses Greek gods to help describe the splendor of nature! I know this was a challenge for you--now I want to add to that challenge for the next set of poems. I want you to pair two poems and describe why you paired them (opposite in tone, similar in topic, whatever you would like to do).
