Letter to the Motherland
Me, this word is very familiar for the
Vietnamese. It is used to mean mom or mother.
But this word has a more particular significance
for the Vietnamese. "Me" is so magic that when
evoked, it revives in each of us many memories,
regrets, and affections. By combining this word
(Me) with other words such as " Quê" , "Dât, it
indicates our motherland ("Dât Me", Quê Me"). It
symbolizes the hyphen between all Vietnamese
across any border. It allows us to recall the
legendary time when mother Âu Co was
separated from her husband and her 50 children
while taking her other 50 with her, giving birth to a
colored mosaic ethnicity, an ethnic microcosm
the most complex in the world.
"Me. ki'nh ye^u,
Bao nhie^u na(m ro^`i Me. chi? mo* u*o*'c co' mo^.t nga`y ddu*o*.c bi`nh ye^n, bao nhie^u na(m ro^`i Me. na(`m can pha^.n nghe tie^'ng ke^u kho'c trong bom dda.n, tie^'ng ke^u kho'c cu?a nhu*~ng ddu*'a con Me. dda~ cu*u mang. Me. dda~ nuo^i du*o*~ng dde^? lo*'n kho^n, nhu*~ng ddu*'a con ra chie^'n tru*o*`ng kho^ng quay tro*? la.i.
Nhu*~ng ddu*'a con, nhu*~ng ddu*'a con na`o dda~ ddem ma~ ta^'u, su'ng gu*o*m ve^` ta`n ta. ngo^i nha` na`y. Nhu*ng Me. o*i, con xin Me. con xin Me. ddu*`ng kho'c nu*~a, nhu*~ng ddu*'a con ngoan cu?a Me. va^~n co`n dda^y, va^~n co`n dda^y.
Me. ca`ng nghe`o o^'m, Me. ca`ng tan thu*o*ng chu'ng con ca`ng ye^u Me. nhie^`u ho*n. Chu'ng con se~ tro*? ve^`, chu'ng con se~ tro*? ve^` dde^? tha^'y Me. cu*o*`i vui, dde^? tha^'y nhu*~ng gio.t nu*o*'c ma('t ha.nh phu'c, long lanh trong ma('t Me. hie^`n.
Va` tu*` ddo' Me. se~ co' nhu*~ng dde^m ngu? bi`nh ye^n."
Du*.a va`o ba`i ha't Me. Vie^.t Nam o*i.
Poet Ho^` Dze^'nh and his sentiment towards Vietnamese women in the poem
CA?M XU'C
Co^ ga'i Vie^.t Nam o+i!
Tu+` thuo+? so+ sinh la^.n dda^.n ro^`i
To^i bie^'t ti`nh co^ u ua^'t la('m
Xa nhau dda`nh chi? nho+' nhau tho^i
Co^ cha(?ng bao gio+` bie^'t bu+o+'m hoa
Ma' ho^`ng mo^~i tie^'t mo^~i pho^i pha
Khi co^ vui thu' la` khi dda~
Bo^`ng be^' con tho+ ddo'n tuo^?i gia`
Co^ ga'i Vie^.t Nam o+i!
Ngo.n gio' tho+`i gian ddo^?i hu+o+'ng ro^`i
The^' he^. huy hoa`ng kho^ng ddu? xo'a
Nghi`n na(m va(`ng va(.c a'nh tra('ng soi
To^i dde^'n dda^y ti`m la.i bo'ng co^
Tro+? ve^` ddu+o+`ng cu~ ha'i mo+ xu+a
Rau sam va^~n mo.c cha^n ra`o tru+o+'c
Son sa('c lo`ng co^ va^~n ddo+.i cho+`
Photo: HoaiNam
VIETNAMESE WOMEN IN POETRY
The Vietnamese girl never complaints about the
condition and the role a Confucian society has
assigned to her since the dawn of time. From her young age, being used to hearing popular poems incessantly
sung by her mother or sister and continuing to grow up with the rhythm and the sound
of the swinging hammock, she began to absorb unconsciously the recommendations
found in these poems.
In spite of their simplicity, these poems began to give her not only an education
worthy of Vietnamese tradition but also an incomparable resignation and the four
virtues that any Vietnamese girl is deemed of possessing at her adolescence: Công,
Dung, Ngôn, Ha.nh ( Homemaking Skills, Speech Manners, Appearance, Good
Behavior). This will help her to be able to become in turn, sister, wife, mother,
grand-mother during her existence. Therefore it is not surprising to see that she has
thus become one of the themes most talked about in Vietnamese popular poems.
Photo: Hoai Nam 
Da~i lu'a co^ tro^`ng nay dda~ tu+o+i
Gio' xua^n y' nhi. vi't bo^ng cu+o+`i
Ai hay lo`ng ke? tu+`ng cha(m lu'a
Trong mo^.t la`ng con dda~ he'o ro^`i
Co^ ga'i Vie^.t Nam o+i!
Ne^'u chu+~ "hy sinh" co' o+? ddo+`i
To^i muo^'n na.m va`ng muo^n cu+.c kho^?
Cho lo`ng co^ ga'i Vie^.t Nam tu+o+i
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