I suggest reading English song lyrics of Trinh Cong Son , a Vietnamese poet and songwriter.
Trinh Cong Son is considered the greatest Vietnamese artist in the twentieth century. He has been compared a lot to Bob Dylan as their songs are both poetic and beautifully written. He sings about love and wars, using delicate, candid, and deeply poignant words. His music conveys the sadness of Vietnamese people in the war and postwar era when people had to leave their loved ones to go to battlefields. They sensed that life is fleeting and painful, and national conflicts crushed their individual dreams. Trinh’s music treasures trivial love and each trivial life. That is why his music touches everyone’s hearts. My parents sometimes still cry while listening to his songs.
Some examples of translated lyrics of Trinh Cong Son that I can find on the Internet:
“What path leads me to intoxication
Once I dreamed I saw myself being switched to the next life
Though my tears fell, I'm not so sad
I awaken, the sun rises.”
- Next to a Desolate Life
“Today you cried at the peak of the afternoon rain
What is left there but the mist
You walk home on that bridge all wet
Blown away are the flamboyant flowers that blinded your street*
Green are the trees on the pavement
You sit down with the clouds by your head
(I've) Been longing for you all these afternoons
My arms have faded
Oh these years, they took it toll on my heel
You sit down praying for the rainfall
On both arms are the pain of age
You lie down listening to the lullaby
How much life there is left to even stay nonchalant.”
- Rosy Rain
“I remember the whispering each night
Seems like it was only drunkenness now
Delicate golden flowers at the edge of the sky
Like words of farewell.”
- Like Words of Farewell
Vietnamese literature and culture owe Trinh Cong Son. He brought the national language to a different level of beauty. Although it has been 20 years after his death, his music heavily influences today's Vietnamese writers and social science researchers.
