1993 vinh on trieu
christian ide hintze: triêu dâng ánh vàng. book. 43 poems. translations: hoàng ánh & ph. d. nguyên tri nguyên. preface by ph. d. vinh kahi huynh, illustrations by le ba dung. nhà xuát ban vân. 74 pages. no publication code. hanoi 1993
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vinh k. huynh:
triêu dâng ành vàng
(...) it took me several times to read and understand his poems; thus i introduced these poems to hoang anh who is experienced in translating german literary works. hoang anh got interested. he asked for permission to translate some poems and publish them in the paper. he translated more than 10 poems and published them in “the hanoi people” and “the van nghe”. he also suggested the idea of translating the collection and having it printed for the vietnamese readers to have an opportunity to get a grasp of the austrian literature, especially the new extraordinary style of hintze. unfortunately, he passed away suddenly, leaving many things undone. in the end, the plan was carried out by dr. nguyen tri nguyen.
in september 1992, i visited vienna. we shared and exchanged experiences in educating and training young writers about literature and poetry. i got to know more about hintze through our conversations at school, during breaks in the hall, in the seminars or on the roads of the prater, the outskirt of vienna where we usually took a stroll. hintze is an active, enthusiastic person who devotes himself to social work. he was born in 1953. he had worked as stage designer and public speaker after leaving school. since 1974 he has been involved in social activities which mainly focus on activities on the streets.
calling i go, calling all through the year (….)
calling i go, calling in the town (....)
calling i go, calling with my hands (....)
("lyrical revolt")
at this time, his poems started appearing in newspapers. and in 1987, he collected all of his poems and “the golden flood” was published.
his doctrine was clearly expressed in his poems. “the power of poems” could be considered as the underlying theme.
the poet who writes in letters of light
does not fear the shadows
because through them
do they become legible.
the poet who writes in shadows
fears them es well as the light.
he seeks a third.
("poetic suffrage")
his poems, in my opinion, express clearly a sense of humanity. he always stood up for and praised those who held dignity, poverty, humbleness high and fought against the power-abuse of oppression. reading the news and finding out that the american lieutenant william calley had carried out a shameful massacre in son my (my lai) in 1968, he wrote “the kiss i'm missing”, siding with those who were killed in or survived the massacre but dared to condemn the murderers from ancient times. he criticized very strictly activities affecting the human and natural life:
they have felled the trees and put them on
display as a human invention.
they have put the monks on the couch and put them on display
as lonely men.
they have invented paradise and put it on display
as the future.
when the storm gathers they call for the
weather report.
a truck goes by and the floors shake
in the poorhouses.
("unable to cope")
hintze’s writing gives a great deal of respect to the truth and sarcasm to deception, especially when deception is meant to lead men to sin.
as he wrote:
in school they drew lines on the blackboard.
they said, this is an "a", this is a "4"
this is the french word for "dog".
i copied the "a" and said "a" this is an "a".
i copied the "four" and said "4" this is a "four".
i copied a dog and said "chien" this is a "chien".
when i was drafted and had to hold a gun,
i said, yes, i know, these are "flowers"
and when we were given ammunition
i said, yes, i know, these are "flowers".
afterwards i went out on the street
handed out slips of paper, and asked people:
what is it i'm doing here?
("night skeleton")
his writing is diverse, mentioning the many vivid aspects of life, always longing to bring men to a higher level, and arousing the beauty of men and casting it in man in its most beautiful sense.
he has always been concerned with the expression in his poems. he usually subtitled each of his poems “to a philosopher, or a politician” such as “to ludwig wittgenstein”, “to sappho”, “to the verse of lxxiv”, “to bertolt brecht”. though, in fact, his writing entirely shows: like a bee that can suck as much pollen and produce a kind of honey “tasting” very hintze. that’s why his poems found their place in austria and many other european countries and are loved by lots of readers.
in a sense, the number of vietnamese having knowledge of austrian literature is very limited. for that reason, we hope this poem collection will bring vietnamese readers and modern austrian literature together.
the romantic revolutionary
calling i go, calling all through the year
calling i go.
calling i go, calling in the town.
calling i go.
calling i go, calling with my hands.
calling i go.
calling in the town.
(vinh khai huynh: preface to "triêu dâng ánh vàng" / "the golden flood". van hoc. hanoi, september 1993. original language: vietnamese)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vinh k. huynh:
triêu dâng ành vàng
(...) it took me several times to read and understand his poems; thus i introduced these poems to hoang anh who is experienced in translating german literary works. hoang anh got interested. he asked for permission to translate some poems and publish them in the paper. he translated more than 10 poems and published them in “the hanoi people” and “the van nghe”. he also suggested the idea of translating the collection and having it printed for the vietnamese readers to have an opportunity to get a grasp of the austrian literature, especially the new extraordinary style of hintze. unfortunately, he passed away suddenly, leaving many things undone. in the end, the plan was carried out by dr. nguyen tri nguyen.
in september 1992, i visited vienna. we shared and exchanged experiences in educating and training young writers about literature and poetry. i got to know more about hintze through our conversations at school, during breaks in the hall, in the seminars or on the roads of the prater, the outskirt of vienna where we usually took a stroll. hintze is an active, enthusiastic person who devotes himself to social work. he was born in 1953. he had worked as stage designer and public speaker after leaving school. since 1974 he has been involved in social activities which mainly focus on activities on the streets.
calling i go, calling all through the year (….)
calling i go, calling in the town (....)
calling i go, calling with my hands (....)
("lyrical revolt")
at this time, his poems started appearing in newspapers. and in 1987, he collected all of his poems and “the golden flood” was published.
his doctrine was clearly expressed in his poems. “the power of poems” could be considered as the underlying theme.
the poet who writes in letters of light
does not fear the shadows
because through them
do they become legible.
the poet who writes in shadows
fears them es well as the light.
he seeks a third.
("poetic suffrage")
his poems, in my opinion, express clearly a sense of humanity. he always stood up for and praised those who held dignity, poverty, humbleness high and fought against the power-abuse of oppression. reading the news and finding out that the american lieutenant william calley had carried out a shameful massacre in son my (my lai) in 1968, he wrote “the kiss i'm missing”, siding with those who were killed in or survived the massacre but dared to condemn the murderers from ancient times. he criticized very strictly activities affecting the human and natural life:
they have felled the trees and put them on
display as a human invention.
they have put the monks on the couch and put them on display
as lonely men.
they have invented paradise and put it on display
as the future.
when the storm gathers they call for the
weather report.
a truck goes by and the floors shake
in the poorhouses.
("unable to cope")
hintze’s writing gives a great deal of respect to the truth and sarcasm to deception, especially when deception is meant to lead men to sin.
as he wrote:
in school they drew lines on the blackboard.
they said, this is an "a", this is a "4"
this is the french word for "dog".
i copied the "a" and said "a" this is an "a".
i copied the "four" and said "4" this is a "four".
i copied a dog and said "chien" this is a "chien".
when i was drafted and had to hold a gun,
i said, yes, i know, these are "flowers"
and when we were given ammunition
i said, yes, i know, these are "flowers".
afterwards i went out on the street
handed out slips of paper, and asked people:
what is it i'm doing here?
("night skeleton")
his writing is diverse, mentioning the many vivid aspects of life, always longing to bring men to a higher level, and arousing the beauty of men and casting it in man in its most beautiful sense.
he has always been concerned with the expression in his poems. he usually subtitled each of his poems “to a philosopher, or a politician” such as “to ludwig wittgenstein”, “to sappho”, “to the verse of lxxiv”, “to bertolt brecht”. though, in fact, his writing entirely shows: like a bee that can suck as much pollen and produce a kind of honey “tasting” very hintze. that’s why his poems found their place in austria and many other european countries and are loved by lots of readers.
in a sense, the number of vietnamese having knowledge of austrian literature is very limited. for that reason, we hope this poem collection will bring vietnamese readers and modern austrian literature together.
the romantic revolutionary
calling i go, calling all through the year
calling i go.
calling i go, calling in the town.
calling i go.
calling i go, calling with my hands.
calling i go.
calling in the town.
(vinh khai huynh: preface to "triêu dâng ánh vàng" / "the golden flood". van hoc. hanoi, september 1993. original language: vietnamese)