The image of women in Nguyen Duc Phuoc's poetry

Having started writing poetry at the age of 18, poet Nguyen Duc Phuoc has now spent 40 years composing poetry and has established his name in the literary world. It's easy to see that his poems often depict women with a modern appearance, yet still retain the traditional beauty of Vietnamese women.

Poet Nguyen Duc Phuoc on Truong Sa Island, April 2025.

Most recently, Nguyen Duc Phuoc released his poetry collection "Mat Bim" (Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House), which compiles approximately 60 works from 2019 to the present. Many of his works have been published in newspapers, including Dong Nai Weekend Newspaper. A special feature of this collection is that, in addition to love poems – his forte – there are also some works on the theme of the sea and islands.

A blend of tradition and modernity

The poem "Eyes of the Silk Scarf" by poet Nguyen Duc Phuoc was first published in the Literature and Arts Newspaper, issue 18, dated April 27, 2019. This love poem, written in the lục bát (six-eight) verse form, draws inspiration from the "pair of natural features" cleverly concealed by a woman's silk scarf: "Why do I hear your laughter? / Lost in your silk scarf eyes, making us love each other / I love you, I love my first love / I love you until my hair turns gray, I will still love you..."

To explain the term "bib-like eyes," Nguyen Duc Phuoc chose to quote verbatim the article "The Beauty of Young Women" (by Thu Trang, published in the Literature and Arts Newspaper, issue 19, 2019) at the end of the poetry collection. In this article, Thu Trang observes: "The words are truly elegant, but within that elegance we see a hint of sensuality; the beauty is expressed in a natural, pure way, like Nguyen Du wrote: 'A magnificent natural structure is already built'... Some say 'bib-like eyes' is a new word, but I emphasize that it is a bold word."

He is a member of the Vietnam Writers Association . Besides writing poetry, Nguyen Duc Phuoc is also known as a musician with about 50 songs composed, most of which are songs set to his own poems.

Throughout his 40-year writing career, Nguyen Duc Phuoc's poetry has been predominantly love poetry. Naturally, the image of women is always present in his poems. It's easy to see that the women in Nguyen Duc Phuoc's poetry often appear with a modern look, reflecting the vibrant realities of contemporary life. However, hidden within this is the subtle charm and traditional beauty of Vietnamese women. This includes the gentleness expressed in lines like: "Your loving words fill my mother's heart / In pain, I feel gentle / I cast off all worldly sorrows / You receive happiness on a spring afternoon" (excerpt from the poem "The White Dress You Wear, the Color of Memories"); and the image of a loving mother with her children: "In a dream at night, I met my mother / Her loving gaze / My sisters and I still cherish her now" (excerpt from the poem "In a dream at night, I met my mother").