Is this a poem?!
Everything started out with an innocent question for a poem to be read during a short clip about street altars (mieu) here in Viet Nam. It soon developed into a research about a very old practice, and led me to a fascinating series of recordings.
Hồn Lìa Khỏi Xác by Hàn Mặc Tử
Hàn Mặc Tử who lived in the first half of the 20th century (Sept. 22, 1912 – Nov. 11, 1940) died at the age of only 28 years from lepracy. As one of Viet Nams most famous poets his writings are considered to belong to the romantic Vietnamese poetry. The following poem is a self-refection on his unavoidable, and much too early arriving day of death.
| Hồn Lìa Khỏi Xác | Quand l’âme quitte le corps | When the Soul leaves the body |
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1/Há miệng cho hồn văng lên muôn trượng, Chơi vơi trong khí hậu chín từng mây. Ánh sáng lại sẽ tan vào hư lãng, Trời linh thiêng; cao cả gợi nồng say… |
1/J’ouvre la bouche pour que mon âme s’élance très haut dans le firmament, Toute seule au-dessus de tous les nuages, dans la stratosphère, Où la lumière se dissout dans le néant, Dans le ciel sacré, si élevé dans l’ivresse… |
1/Spit the Soul out up to myriad feet Lonely on cloud nine The light will then melt into illusion The lofty supernatural sky inspires impetuously… |
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2/Vì không giới, nơi trầm hương vắng lặng, Nên hồn bay vùn vụt tới trăng sao, Sóng gió nổi rùng rùng như địa chấn, Và muôn vàn thần phách ngả lao đao. |
2/Dans le vide, où même l’encens est absent, L’âme s’envole vers la lune et les étoiles à toute vitesse, Où les vents ébranlent tout, comme un séisme sur la terre, Où une multitude d’âmes défuntes s’accroche difficilement. |
2/No limitation in the deserted space of aloe wood The Soul flies swiftly to the moon and stars, It trembles like an earthquake, And myriad spirits split away. |
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3/Cả hơi hám muôn xưa theo ám ảnh, Hồn trơ vơ không biết lạc về đâu? Và vướng phải muôn vàn tinh khí lạnh, Hồn mê man bất tỉnh một hồi lâu. |
3/Accompagnée malgré elle par d’innombrables antiques puanteurs, L’âme perdue ne sait plus où elle s’est égarée, Et trébuchant sur les immenses stellaires froideurs, Elle perd connaissance pendant une longue durée. |
3/Obsession of the breath of the past Makes the lonesome Soul lose its way And it gets stuck in plenty of frozen air, The Soul becomes unconscious for a while. |
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4/Rồi sảng sốt bay tìm muôn tử khí, Mà muôn sao xa cách cõi hoang sơ. Hồn cảm thấy bùi ngùi như rớm lệ, Thôi hồn ơi, phiêu lạc đến bao giờ! |
4/Se réveillant en sursaut, elle s’envole chercher d’autres émanations de la mort, Sur des myriades d’étoiles bien loin de ce lieu sauvage, Et les larmes aux yeux elle pleure sur son sort, Eh mon âme, jusqu’à quand continueras-tu ton aventureux voyage! |
4/Then it deliriously flies searching for dead air Which is far away from the place with the stars. Being sad on the verge of tears Hey Soul! When do you stop wandering? |
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5/Hồn hãy thoát ly ra ngoài tâm tưởng Là hồn đừng nghĩ ngợi đến hồn trong, Cứ để mặc hồn ngoài bay lưởng vưởng, Ngao du cùng khắp cõi trí mênh mông. |
5/Ô mon âme, libère-toi de toute pensée, Ne te préoccupe pas de ton âme intérieure, Laisse virevolter ton âme extérieure, Qu’elle puisse vagabonder dans l’immensité des spirituelles contrées. |
5/Let the Soul escape from the mind Not to worry about the inside Soul Just leave it loitering around, Roaming in the boundless world. |
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6/Xác ta sẽ hút bao nguồn trăng loạn, Ngấm vào trong cơ thể những hoa hương, Và sẽ thở ra toàn hơi thở sáng, Để trên cao, hồn khỏi lộn màu sương. |
6/Mon corps aspirera les sources de la folle lune, Et dans mon organisme les fleurs imprégneront leurs parfums, Ensuite mon expiration n’exhalera que de lumineux embruns, Pour que là-haut, l’âme ne se perde pas dans les couleurs de la brume. |
6/The Body will absorb plenty of frenzied moonlight Impregnated with incenses of flowers And respire luminous breaths High in the sky, the Soul will not mix with the fog |
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7/Rồi hồn ngắm tử thi hồn tan rã, Bốc thành âm khí loãng nguyệt cầu xa. Hồn mất xác, hồn sẽ cười nghiêng ngả, Và kêu rêu thảm thiết khắp bao la… |
7/Puis en contemplant mon cadavre l’âme se dispersera, Et s’envolera comme une humeur yin vers l’astre lunaire, Ayant perdu le corps, l’âme poussera un renversant fou rire, Tout en se lamentant dans toute l’étendue de l’au-delà… |
7/Then the Soul contemplates the Body, it disintegrates, Vaporizes into dark miasmal atmosphere The Soul lost its body, it laughs And laments harrowingly in the vast world… |
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8/Ôi hồn thiêng liêng không hề chết đặng, Làm sao hồn chẳng hiểu nghĩa vô biên. Ngày tận thế là ngày tán loạn, Xác của hồn, hồn của xác y nguyên. |
8/Oh, mon âme sacrée ne mourra jamais, Elle ne manquera pas de comprendre le sens de l’infini. La fin du monde est un jour de désordre et de souci, Le corps de l’âme et l’âme du corps seront comme au premier jour éternisés. |
8/Alas! The sacred soul never dies How could it not penetrate this world Judgment Day is a day for a stampede Both, Body and Soul are still intact however |
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9/Đêm nay ta khạc hồn ra khỏi miệng, Để cho hồn đỡ bớt nỗi bi thương. Nhưng khốn nỗi xác ta đành câm tiếng, Hồn đi rồi, không nhập xác thê lương. |
9/Cette nuit je crache mon âme par la bouche, Pour la soulager, tellement elle souffre, Mais malheureusement mon corps doit se taire, L’âme est partie, elle ne reviendra pas dans ce corps froid et solitaire. |
9/Tonight I spit out the soul, out of my mouth For the Soul not to be so sorrowful But the Body unfortunately resigns to be mute, The Soul leaves, never returns to the lugubrious Body again. |
| Original Vietnamese text |
(Souffrances) Traduction par Đông Phong (Extrait de : Đông Phong, Des poètes de ma terre lointaine, Publibook, 2008) |
free translation from French to English (sg) |
The poem in the style of the North and the Center
In Viet Nam poems can be presented as spoken words or in a particular kind of singing. They are are called ngam tho, and are written with the melody already in mind. The artist is highly specialized, and therefore it is like looking for a needle in the haystack to find somebody who is still carrying on this tradition. Happily I was able to meet with two singers who were able to help out. Mai, a singing student at the Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City, performed the poem for me in the “tongue” from the north and the center of Viet Nam (Nov. 2009).
In the beginning of December, 2009, I met Trang, who is a professional singer for “Ngâm Thơ”, performing these very often for a show about poems on Ho Chi Minh’s broadcast station HTV. I recorded a series of poems with her, when all of a sudden I figured out, that she was able to recite ad-lib Hàn Mặc Tử ‘s poem in the style of the south. A flexibility definitely not found too often.
North (as sung by Mai)
Center (as sung by Mai)
South (as sung by Trang)