Painting by Nguyên Khai
In Tourane (now Ðà Nẵng), in 1944, I met the poet Lưu Trọng Lư whom I had always admired and from then on, to keep my romanticism alive, I often set his poems to music. Four of his poems became songs that have been sung by two or three generations of singers, from Thái Thanh and Mai Hương to Duy Quang, Thái Hiền and Ý Lan.
TIẾNG THU (The Sound Of Autumn) is like a light breeze in an autumnnight, a moonlit forest, where walk innocent fawns... We also hear theheartbeat of a lonely woman calling her absent husband...
Poet Lưu Trọng Lư and Phạm Duy, 1944 Tourane (Ðà Nẵng)
THE SOUND OF AUTUMN
(from a poem by Lưu Trọng Lư - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Don't you hear Autumn
Sobbing in the dim moonlight
Don't you hear the thobbing
Of a lonely woman's heart
Thinking of her husband soldier....
Don't you hear the autumn woods
The rustling of leaves
Don't you hear a golden fawn
Stepping on the dry leaves..
SAD FALLING VERSES
(from a poem by Lưu Trọng Lư - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Since the moon ascended the throne
Year after year she has sat spinning the silk
Spinning the silk
Turning, turning, turning
Uncombed hair tangling, verses falling
Her hair feels the sadness in the words
Sadness in the words
Turning, turning, turning
Year after year the silk has been spun
Cold wind blows in the trees
The sound of silk in the wind
Night after night, cold wind in the trees
Cold wind in the trees
Turning, turning, turning
Gently gently turns her hand
A fragrance fills the air
A fragrance fills the air
Turning, turning, turning
Over her perfumed hair
Turning, turning, turning
Time silently flows, lonely and sad
Lonely and sad
Turning, turning, turning
Turning, turning, turning...
FLOWERS FALLING BY THE RIVER
(poem by Lưu Trọng Lư - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Now flowers are scattered by the river
Now dreams have shattered
My heart no longer beats with love
The day passes with the river, the sun is setting.
Where are they now
The golden moonlight
The golden moonlight
Dreaming on your hair
The light footsteps
The light footsteps
Dreaming on the path at dusk
Where are the nights when leaves fall
Where is the mist dissolving, the dreamy moon
Where is the girl with the tangled hair
At twenty welcoming the new spring
Where is the time of silk and velvet
Of dreams hugging the bed
Of love warming the pillows
Where is the smell of grass
Where is that innocent love on your cheeks
By the river the flowers are scattered
The dreams have now shattered
My heart no longer beats to the beat of love
As the river flows the days pass by
The sun is setting......
THÚ ÐAU
THƯƠNG
PLEASANT PAIN
(poem by Lưu Trọng Lư - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Love's memories have sneaked in through the new sun
Sadness rises in my heart Love trembles on my lips
But cannot form happy words
The smile in my dream has faded
The beloved image has dimmed
The evening's purple has deepened
The dreams have dissolved
Let's leave the beddings undisturbed
And swoon in pleasant pain.
Love has not come once more
We look at each other in sadness
As you empty your glass of love
My tears say bitter things
Let's put away all the memories
No pity is needed, no sympathy
The boat of love never touches the shore of sadness
Like a lonely woman's moonless night
Like a star that falls for ever
My heart is forever in pain.
TIẾNG SÁO THIÊN THAI
THE FLUTE OF FAIRYLAND
(poem by Thế Lữ - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Springtime!
So gentle the light of spring
By the woods a few young angels
Lovingly play their flutes
The voices of the flutes
Glide on the sunlit grass
A vast melancholy
Rises through the air ...
Fairies by the brook
Let down their flowing hair
On the hills
Pinetrees gently sing
Behind the hills clouds linger
To look at the trees drenched in sun
The evening has fallen silent
The evening tarries...
The sky is blue, oh so blue
Two white cranes are soaring... where to?
The sky is blue, oh so blue
Two white cranes are soaring... where to?
O cranes
Those flutes rising in the wind
Are they singing to fairies
Bathing behind the hill?
Their melody rises to lofty heights
To the floating clouds
Then come back to the brook
Under the hazy foliage...
So gentle, the loving voices of flutes
As pretty as fairies
Dancing in the air.
On the path to Fairyland
Notes linger as in a dream
Bringing back memories of love
To Ngọc Chân the fairy ...
NGẬM NGÙI
MELANCHOLY
(poem by Huy Cận - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Daylight is falling
In the virgin garden the leaves have closed
The spider quickly spins its web
Sleep, my love, my fan will keep you cool.
Like this fan my heart opens
A hundred birds of dreams come to the bed's end
Sleep my love, have peaceful dreams
Sleep my love, have peaceful dreams
For you the willows are singing a lullaby
Sleep my love, have peaceful dreams
Gently the willows are singing
In a daze the trees cast long shadows
Your soul has been through some seasons of sorrow
Rest your head on my arm, my love
So I can hear the fruit of sadness falling...
MỘ KHÚC
EVENSONG
(poem by Xuân Diệu - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
Today the heavens feel so light and so high
The heavens feel so light, yet I feel a tinge of sadness
Strangely, for no reason at all
For no reason at all I feel a tinge of sadness
Looking at the red leaves falling
Silently in the street
A virgin mist falling on the source of love
A virgin mist falling on the source of love
The floating soul of a rose wanders
Tinged with the hue of blood
A new breeze crossing the river
A lonely boat floating among the reeds
A thread of silk hanging across space
A footstep which a noise could break
The evening stands still as in a daze
What made my heart suddenly feel
A tinge of sadness, for no reason at all?
LUTH
(poem by Bích Khê - adaptation by Phạm Duy)
My love, the fingers of the night are enlaced
The moonlight weaves through the branches
Clouds of velvet color the sky with autumn
A blue mist spread autumn across space
Golden stars rest on the flowers
I long for one who's not here anymore
She who forgot her vow long ago
The fragrance of flowers brings a trance
A luth of love, made of poetry
Trembles in a dream
Words from my soul call from my lips: my love
The boat of my soul cannot rise
I have borrowed a melody from her heart
And taken it into mine I can never forget
I love her I seem to hear the melody still
My love, the fingers of the night are enlaced
Moonlight weaves through the branches
Clouds of velvet tinge the sky with autumn
A blue mist spread autumn across space
Golden stars rest on the flowers
I long for one who's not here
She who has forgotten her vow
The fragrance of flowers brings a trance
So much love in my heart
So much love on my lips
No need to search for Fairyland
Fairyland is here in her heart
In autumn's embrace all souls rise to the Void
Why don't I want to call out: My Love
The moon without her is spoiled
The night without her is lonely
I look sadly for spring in the peach trees
I search sadly for winter in the firs
Look! Sadness lingers on the erythrina
Golden, golden autumn falls...
Painting by Bùi Quang Ngọc
MẦU THỜI GIAN
COLOR OF TIME
(poem by Ðoàn Phú Tứ - melody by Phạm Duy)
This morning the birds' clear voices in the cool breeze
Varry the warmth and fragrance of spring love
The past is no longer cold Ta^`n Phi,
I silently offer to you
The sky and the clouds tinged with time
Time is not blue
Time is purple
Time's fragrance is not strong
Time's fragrance is delicate
A lock of hair, a golden knife
A thousand miles
I shyly follow the King
A hundred years of love ended without anger
I must forget my love for you.
Our destinies lie apart
But love still lingers
Time's fragrance is not strong
Time's color is delicate.
Cung Trầm Tưởng
Phạm Thiên Thư
Nguyễn Tất Nhiên
Other Poets
POEMS SET TO MUSIC