Countryside Luc Bat: Continuities and Innovations in Luc Bat Poetry by Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon

life. That teasing tone is rarely pure but often mixed with sorrow and longing. Lament and teasing have interwoven, responded and created unique poetic values.

3. COUNTRY SIX-EIGHT POETRY: CONTINUITATIONS AND INNOVATIONS IN THE SIX-EIGHT POETRY OF NGUYEN DUY, DONG DUC BO

Nowadays, in the trend of many poetic forms seeking to innovate and open new paths, the lục bát form is still as smooth and gentle as before. There is innovation but it is still pure. The reason lục bát is still a popular poetic form is because after the struggles and ups and downs of life, people cannot avoid stress and fatigue. Returning to lục bát, to the national soul, Vietnamese people will feel somewhat more secure and calm.

It must be repeated that many people still say: Luc Bat is easy to write but difficult to write well. Writing many Luc Bat poems, and writing them well like Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon, is not an easy task. They worked diligently in the fields of national poetry and literature to create poems like precious gems, unpolished but still sparkling and shining. When placed in the hands of these rural authors, the Luc Bat form has truly returned to the talented poets. Their Luc Bat poems both follow the traditional path and have skillful innovations and renewals.

Size, structure of stanzas, poem

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Most researchers when studying the six-eight poetry of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon have come to the conclusion that the six-eight poetry of these two poets is deeply rooted in the traditional folk songs of the nation. However, besides the inheritance, the six-eight poetry of these two poets still has many new innovations. Looking at the level of the stanza and poem, these characteristics are quite prominent.

Many stanzas in the six-eight poems of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon consist of only two lines, that is, a pair of six-eight. Each pair of poems has relatively independent content, like folk songs. In the treasure trove of traditional folk songs, most of them are short folk songs consisting of only a pair of six-eight. According to statistics by researcher Nguyen Xuan Kinh, in the book Vietnamese Folk Songs (edited by Dinh Gia Khanh), out of a total of 973 lyrics composed in the form

In the six-eight meter, the number of two-line verses is 620, accounting for 63%. Thus, the structure of a folk song is usually very short. Therefore, each six-eight meter stanza of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon, from content, tone to structure, is very close to folk songs. For example, in Nguyen Duy's six-eight meter poem:

The stork flies lazily.

Fly from the delta fly over the tide

The stork, the snail, the clam, lying on the beach, as if teasing the stork.

(Lullaby of the Sea Stork)

Or in the six-eight poem of Dong Duc Bon:

No I go out to fly kites

Unexpectedly, the afternoon moon in the clouds

Thread the needle in and remember to sew. The thread of love keeps breaking in your hand.

(The river loves the days without you)

The special thing is that each stanza is almost capable of standing alone and can still be considered a unique poetic whole. The number of six-eight poems with such stanzas in the poetry of the two authors Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon is relatively large, if not common. In the Six and Eight volumes of Nguyen Duy, if not counting the 16 poems with only two lines, there are 42/83 six-eight poems with stanzas consisting of only one pair of six-eights. This phenomenon is even more common in Dong Duc Bon. Most of his six-eight poems have stanzas of two lines. Poet Nguyen Binh also has six-eight poems with stanzas of two lines such as the poem The late autumn banyan tree :

Autumn comes to the banyan branches, only two yellow leaves remain.

One fell off yesterday.

Leaves blown by the wind out of the mountain village…

However, the number of such poems in Nguyen Binh's poetry is not much. Moreover, each stanza (or pair of poems) is not capable of standing relatively independently. A certain innovation must come to a certain point in time to become popular. The six-eight poems with two-line stanzas like those of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon can be considered an innovation of modern six-eight. But it is an innovation to return closer to traditional poetry.

In terms of poems, the six-eight poems of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon are often medium and small in scale, sometimes extremely small. Six-eight poems in previous written literature were often long. Shortening the length of a six-eight poem is a manifestation of modernization in modern Vietnamese six-eight poetry. The rustic poet Nguyen Binh also only had a poem Hoa co may which was extremely short with a pair of six-eights, but with Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon, such poems were no longer just a single number. These were the poems: Gap ma , Thien su , Goi ... by Nguyen Duy; Khoc mot dong song , Loi ru cho co buon ... by Dong Duc Bon. Dong Duc Bon even tried to shorten the length of the poem to the maximum. Both the title of the poem and the content of the new poem are a pair of six-eights. That is, minus the title, the poem only has one sentence (line). This novelty has never existed in traditional six-eight poems.

There is a thunderstorm on West Lake this afternoon.

I sit on the waves but do not sink

In the six-eight verse, Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon also have a rhyme scheme that continues from the title verse. The first verse of the poem is therefore also the title of the poem. At first glance, we can easily mistake these for variations of the six-eight verses starting from the eight verse. These innovations in the six-eight verses of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon are truly unique and strange. That is also a manifestation of the straightforward, outspoken character within the poets of the rice fields. With Nguyen Duy's six-eight verse, we can mention the poem The Cloud Stops in the Sky :

The cloud stopped in the sky

…To let the people on the ground run from the rain, to give them a moment to rely on.

Whose porch is it just like that?

As for Dong Duc Bon, there are many poems like that:

Visit Nguyen Du's tomb

Suddenly I met autumn returning...

Or:

In the end, there is still the river. When far away, I miss it and stand there looking back, feeling sad...

Nguyen Duy often titles his six-eight poems very briefly. Sometimes three words: Tre San Truong , Tre Viet Nam , Bau Troi Vuong Ng… Or two words: Hammock Moon , Dan Bau , Mua Thu , Nho Ban … At least only one word: Nho , Mua , Nang , Trang , Sao … This way of titling is a manifestation of the poet’s straightforward, concise, and brevity-loving personality. Nguyen Duy also has the habit of composing poems in groups of poems with the same topic and theme: The collection of poems Khuc Dan Ca , Ca Dao Vong Ve , Kinh Thu Lien Chi , the collection of poems about Flowers , Fruits … Between the poems, there is a continuity like dialogues. There are the words of the tree , and the words of the fruit in response. There are rain , sunshine , and the moon , stars… The poet’s personality of liking completeness, fullness, and liking to change the atmosphere in life, in his poems, has created these special features.

Dong Duc Bon has short six-eight poem titles like Nguyen Duy's such as: Pho deo , Ve dau , Ve Hue , Chuong buon ... However, the six-eight poem titles in the collection Chim beo vang va hoa co doc do not have any poem with a title of only one word. Most of the titles are quite long and have rhyme, rhythm like smooth verses. This is a unique feature, a difference in the poetry, in the personality of the two country poets.

Many modern six-eight poems end in an open style. The identifying marks are usually special punctuation marks. Typical are question marks, ellipses and exclamation marks. This phenomenon did not exist in ancient folk songs. Since the composer consciously paid attention to the co-creation of the reader, this type of ending

is becoming more and more popular. In New Poetry, many poems have an open structure and create artistic effects. For example, the poem " Autumn Sound" by Luu Trong Lu is created by combining 3 questions. Han Mac Tu ends " Spring is Ripe" with a wistful, lingering question:

This year she still carries rice along the river bank in the blazing sun?

In Money and Leaves , Nguyen Binh expressed his heart-wrenching pain. The question the poet posed, even the poet himself could hardly answer. It is like a sad musical note that lingers in the reader's mind:

He has been bought.

The market is meeting, what do I buy alone?

Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon fully inherited those innovations. Nguyen Duy ended the poem Hoi Tham with a question that evokes deep nostalgia:

Is the Hell restaurant still there? Is the lady from that day married yet?

In the poem "A Bowl of Corn Water" , the last verse is a six-line verse and stands alone as a stanza. It affirms human love and love for the homeland through a simple, rustic gift of a bowl of corn water: "That's all the gift is". "That's all" but it is extremely meaningful and significant. The verse is so melancholy and profound, it echoes forever in the hearts of readers.

There are also many poems ending in the open-ended style in Đồng Đức Bổn’s lục bát verse. Each time the poem ends like this, the poet creates a special artistic signal. Based on that, we can see the depth of the poet’s emotions and feelings.

If life is full of mud, the rain in the small alley will never stop.

(Small alley, heavy rain)

The starling crossed the river

This side of the bank seems to have nothing, but the starling flies away.

On the other side there is nothing. I wish there would be a storm.

(The Starling Crosses the River)

The structure of the verses and the six-eight poems of Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon further proves that they are very flexible country poets. They cling deeply and firmly to the traditional roots, while at the same time making many new contributions, enriching the Vietnamese six-eight treasure. Their six-eight poems are old but not boring, new but not strange, unique but not out of place. Their poetic talent and poetic soul are increasingly affirmed in Vietnamese poetry. A typical example is the six-eight poem.

At the verse level

3.2.1. About the pause

From Nguyen Duy's six-eight verses to Dong Duc Bon's six-eight verses, they all follow the traditional six-eight rhythmic pattern. Most of the six-eight verses in their poetry are broken up in the old, old way. This rhythmic pattern partly creates the folk song sound in the poems of the two rural authors.

Besides the inheritance, the rhythmic breaks in Nguyen Duy and Dong Duc Bon's six-eight poetry also have many differences. They are innovations in poetic thinking. Those innovations are the enrichment of traditional six-eight, not the struggle to deny existing values. In the six-eight poetry of other poets, we can see that they have many creative ways of rhythmic breaks, creating a new breath for their poetry. Nguyen Binh's six-eight has a flexible rhythm, expressing the right emotional flow of the modern romantic lyrical ego:

Something like longing

Miss you/ no/ definitely don't miss you

(Neighbor)

Poet To Huu has a very good way of breaking up the rhythm in "Nguoi Non" (Country and Mountains)... These are rhythmic verses in the traditional style:

Ups and downs/fire waterfall/stubborn waterfall Dai waterfall/Kho waterfall/Mr. waterfall/Mrs. waterfall

The sudden change and transformation in the 1/3/2 rhythm shows the fierce determination that is burning in the heart of the revolutionary soldier:

Waterfall/how many waterfalls/will pass

From different emotional levels, Nguyen Duy created many different ways of breaking the rhythm in his six-eight poems. Here are some typical and popular ways of breaking the rhythm in his six-eight poems. The 1/6 rhythm is like an explosion of the poet's emotions:

Hello/… what a beautiful night. I still beg you not to act like this in the middle of the sky.

(Folk song echoes)

In some cases, the verse follows the 1/7 rhythm, similar to a defining sentence but expressing the astonishment in the poet's mood.

The lines and shapes are unique to each person.

You/- the goddess of beauty sent from heaven to earth

(Lines and shapes)

I return to visit the old battlefield You/- late peach blossoms Ky Lua spring

(Lang Son)

The 2/6 rhythm brings about different expressive values. It is the surprise and joy in the poet's emotions. The 2 beat stops the flow of the poem, makes the mood stop and then suddenly opens up a new aspect of the scene, space or creates a space for the reader to contemplate and understand more about the poet's heart.

Bombs fell across the area

Green Mat/- the gap of the forest appears

(Star)

A lifetime/ can never forget the people's heart/ - the strong shield that protects us

(A-shaped tunnel)

The use of punctuation in verses sometimes also creates highly effective poetic rhythms. Nguyen Duy often uses ellipses to create

creates a sense of hesitation, slowness, and contemplation. This habit is not only found in the poet's six-eight poetry but also in many other poetic forms.

We fly to the sky

And imagine once crawling underground Ten feet…thousand feet…ten thousand feet

(In the ground)

In six-eight poetry, the ellipsis in the middle of a line of poetry slows down the rhythm of the poem, creating sadness in the poet's soul:

The stork...the sour fig...the sour peach The song my mother sang was carried to the sky by the wind

(Sitting sadly remembering my mother in the past)

If the ellipsis slows down the rhythm of the poem, the full stop in the middle of a line of poetry makes the verse broken. The rhythm of the poem is blocked, interrupted in a strange way like the grumbling speech of the villagers:

Sunshine. Wild flowers are dazzling. The wild smell of grass evokes a desolate person.

(Pickled vegetables)

The poem " Vietnamese Bamboo" is a beautiful and typical six-eight poem of Nguyen Duy's poetry. At the end of this poem, the verse is broken into segments, creating a strange rhythm, evoking an endless space and time. Each rhythm is a voice affirming the belief in the future of the homeland and country.

Later Later Later

Green bamboo forever green bamboo color

Also a country poet like Nguyen Binh, Nguyen Duy… Dong Duc Bon’s six-eight rhythm is firmly rooted in the roots of traditional six-eight. However, it must be said that Dong Duc Bon is very skillful and talented in integrating the values of traditional six-eight poetry with the values of poetry.

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