Poetry. Asian American Studies. Translation. During the Vietnam War, John Balaban traveled the Vietnamese countryside alone, taping, transcribing, and translating oral folk poems known as "ca dao." No one had ever done this before, and it was Balaban's belief that his project would help end the war. The resulting collection-the first in any Western language-became a phenomenon within the American Vietnamese community, but the book slipped out of print after the original publisher folded in the 70's. This revised bilingual edition includes new poems and an eloquent introduction explicating poetry's importance in Vietnamese culture.