Farewell to poet 'The Little Prince' Nguyen Quang Tan

The literary and artistic community of Ho Chi Minh City expressed their condolences to poet 'The Little Prince' Nguyen Quang Tan, an innocent and lovable man who spent his whole life worrying about nothing but poetry and music.

Poet and musician Nguyen Quang Tan has just passed away - Photo archive

Many poets shared sad news from the family of the "reclusive" poet Nguyen Quang Tan, saying that "Little Prince" Nguyen Quang Tan passed away this afternoon (November 1) at his home in La Nga, Dong Nai , at the age of 76.

Nguyen Quang Tan's Prelude: Beautiful, shimmering and deep as a well

Poet Khuong Ha sadly recounted the memory of nearly two weeks ago when she visited the poet at his house in the middle of his immense fruit garden in La Nga.

She made an appointment to visit him again in two weeks, which brought a happy, childish smile to his face, but he could not wait for another poetic meeting between the two.

Khuong Ha said that although Nguyen Quang Tan rarely "exposed" himself to the public, he rarely published poetry in newspapers or books. In his entire life, he only published one collection of poems , 106 preludes, at the Writers' Association Publishing House.

Some literary newspapers such as Van Nghe, Van Nghe Quan Doi, Viet va Doc (winter 2023 special issue) ... once brought the hidden poet of Saigon to "the light" when publishing and introducing his poems.

Poet Nguyen Quang Tan was passionate about words all his life - Photo archive

Although rarely published, his "subtle, poetic, beautiful and sad, extremely good" poems are strongly ingrained in the literary world, especially in Ho Chi Minh City. Writers and poets often read his poems to each other.

Writer Ngo Dinh Hai in the 2023 winter special issue of Writing and Reading said that Nguyen Quang Tan does not write poetry, he tells stories, "beautiful, shimmering stories, deep as a well".

Nguyen Quang Tan did not give titles to his poems. They were collectively called Interludes , followed by a numerical order. His only published collection of poems was therefore titled 106 Interludes.

In addition to his poetic talent, Nguyen Quang Tan composed songs and played many musical instruments. Like his poetry, his music was not very extensive, only five or seven "epic" songs, full of fate, and were only popular in the literary and artistic circles of Ho Chi Minh City.

Among them, Lynh Bacardi, a female poet in the former poetry group Ngua Troi , often sang for her friends. Da cold roi tram huong, Chieu niem, Nhan sac, Ngay mai mua gio qua troi … are his favorite songs.

Poet The Little Prince

Poet Khuong Ha said that poet Nguyen Quang Tan lived in poverty all his life. He used to work as a packaging designer in Ho Chi Minh City. More than ten years ago, he fell ill, so he moved back to his hometown in La Nga, Dong Nai to live. The poet lived alone in a small house in the middle of a cool green garden.

106 Preludes - the only collection of poems by Nguyen Quang Tan - Photo archive

Although he lives more than a hundred kilometers away from Ho Chi Minh City, the small house of the "Little Prince" is often warmed by literary friends from the country and abroad who come to visit. Any literary friend who passes by this place always visits him, because there they can encounter poetry.

The literary world of Ho Chi Minh City loved him not only for his beautiful and profound poems and songs, but also for his youthful poetic soul that he carried throughout his life.

People called him "the poet Little Prince". He was innocent and lovely all his life, not letting anything cling to him, except poetry and music.

Khuong Ha said that in early 2024, she was given a handwritten book of poems by poet Nguyen Quang Tan. The slanted handwriting on the gridded pages of a student's notebook carried beautiful poems that moved anyone who had the chance to come across them.

Ms. Ha posted those pages of poetry on her personal Facebook page. Many people read them and loved them so much that they asked to buy the handwritten poetry collection. She introduced them to the poor poet.

Unexpectedly, after a while, she received a thank you from "The Little Prince", a thank you that touched her heart. He thanked her because thanks to Khuong Ha, he was able to sell "a bunch" of those handwritten poetry books to poetry lovers, so that he could have more money for medicine.

Prelude 27 by Nguyen Quang Tan

Where we let go and broke the vase

sparkling drops of love

that place later became a river and a sea

who rowed into the infinite

where the scent of breath

make all the flowers bloom

This afternoon is a distant cloud

one day is the wind of the river

where the golden key is

fall from the top of the tower to the sky

I bow down alone

from the depths a silent call

where we let go and broke the vase

sparkling drops of love

this place becomes river and sea...

this is where i fell in love with you

BIRD OF PARADISE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tien-biet-thi-si-hoang-tu-be-nguyen-quang-tan-20251101203827531.htm