Widely considered the most important poet of his generation, Duy began his career as a writer on the battlefields of Vietnam. The power of his highly-crafted poetry stems from its distinct sense of time and place, his unrelenting honesty, and his deep compassion. Born into a peasant family, Duy captures the essence of village life in his poetry. Whether it is love, family, war, present or lost friends, or his own self-mockery, his poetry is infused with an understanding of hardship and suffering. Many of his love poems have become classics in Vietnam.