My friend's birthday is soon, so I thought to make a gift of a poster-size drawing for her. Her culture is very important to her, so I wanted to include some Vietnamese on it. I thought to translate a poem by Edna St.Vincent Millay that I associate with her:
"My candle burns at both ends;
it will not last the night;
but ah! my foes and oh! my friends,
it gives a lovely light!"
I am not very familiar with Vietnamese, so I first used the translator on this website. It provided me with this translation:
"Nến (của) Tôi cháy tại cả hai kết thúc;.
nó sẽ không kéo dài đêm;.
trừ phi ah! những địch thủ (của) tôi và ồ! những bạn (của) tôi,.
nó đưa cho một ánh sáng đáng yêu!"
I know that no translator is completely reliable, so I tried my best to check it.
- I don't know if "kết thúc" in the first line might be better rendered as "mẩu nến".
-Or if perhaps "trừ phi" might be "Má". That, and I'm not sure what the purpose of the "thủ" in the third line is.
-Lastly, I wonder if "vui thú" might be closer to the intended meaning than "sáng đáng yêu".
I thank you all for your help with the translation.