Huu did not build them up as representatives of a generation. But they always had a deep love for their country. When necessary, they did not mind hardships and difficulties, and were willing to put aside their personal work for the common goal of the resistance with boundless joy. In their thoughts, words, actions, and dreams, they were all extremely simple, but it was this simplicity that made a memorable history for the nation.
2.3. Love of homeland
1. The collection of poems Viet Bac is built on a great love: Love for the country. To Huu, love for the country is first of all love for the workers and fighters for the country. Love for the country is also love for the homeland, love for all the landscapes associated with the people's lives. It can be said that love for people and love for natural landscapes in the collection of poems Viet Bac are always intertwined to create a unique beauty of the people and mountains of Viet Bac.
In the collection of poems Viet Bac, as well as in folk songs, in the Tale of Kieu and in many ancient poems, scenery is always closely associated with people.
Maybe you are interested!
-
Symbol of To Huu's poetry in the period 1945-1975 - 10 -
RHETORICAL METAPHORS IN TO HUU'S POETRY - 6 -
Che Lan Vien's political poetry from the perspective of artistic thinking - 1 -
Effects of Phan Khoi's New Concept of Poetry -
Tradition and innovation in Nguyen Duy's poetry - 6
In the folk song:
A hundred years because of a failed date, the old banyan tree and ferry, another boat takes us
The banyan tree and the ferry are necessary "characters" in the story of a hundred-year-old broken appointment. The same goes for poet To Huu. He does not talk about the scene for the sake of talking about the scene, but evokes the scene to connect it with people. From the "cool bamboo shade" over the intimate story between two people to the image:
Far away at the end of the green bamboo village
There is a grandmother rocking her grandchild to sleep on her lap
(Fish and Water, 1947)
Scenery and people always blend together and go together. The poet has inserted the image of a soldier: "with a bright mouth and a bright yellow face" into the scene:
The countryside in October smells of harvest season.
(Fish and Water, 1947)
Creating a very familiar and warm space in the minds of all Vietnamese people, the image of "The skinny boy, the pretty bag..." that we all remember also appears in the background of the rice fields:
Deserted Country Road The rice is in full bloom Calo the boy
Bouncing on the field.
(Lượm, 1949)
He was killed by an enemy bullet. For a moment, it seemed like the enemy had won. But no:
I lie on the rice field, my hands tightly holding the rice stalks. The rice smells of milk, my soul flies among the fields.
(Lượm, 1949)
The image of Luom's simple yet heroic sacrifice on the fragrant rice field is also the image of justice triumphing over injustice, of life triumphing over death, right when justice and life are being threatened and trampled by the enemy. Therefore, immediately after that, the image of "the skinny boy, the pretty bag..." reappears in the poem and will be forever engraved in people's hearts, no bullet can kill. Just as no brutal force can stop our rice fields from smelling of milk every season and remaining forever green.
Scenery is attached to people. People go far away, scenery leaves messages of waiting. The following lines are from the Soviet poet Simonov but are also poems by To Huu, because the poet transformed them into very To Huu and very Vietnamese verses:
We wait for you to come back.
The green forest echoes the sound of the countryside, sending a message. The old forest and old homeland are far away.
Every night still echoes the passionate voice.
(Do You Remember, Aliosa?, 1949)
The people returned, the scene was bustling with joy. The soldier "went to the Northwest" with each step he took:
Every golden step follows the ripe rice fields, The fire brings joy to every green thatched roof.
(To the Northwest, 1948)
To Huu describes people in a very beautiful way. The soldier is portrayed as a mythical character, with each step he takes, a hundred flowers bloom. Wherever he goes, he brings joy to people and scenery. There is absolutely nothing mystical about this image. It is completely true to the great truth of our time:
You come back, the mortar echoes in the forest again
Birds chirping around the roof, chickens happy in the yard When you come back, the starlings make love again
Moonlit night rendezvous with clear song...
(To the Northwest, 1948)
But in the collection of poems Viet Bac, there are not only warm and happy scenes. To Huu also evokes scenes of hardship that were little known before. From the scene of corn and potatoes in disarray, the scene of a female worker breaking the road carrying her child, the scene of "cold wind blowing through the bamboo fence" of a Viet Bac mother, the "dry banana nest" of a grandmother who was restless with longing for her child to the scene of a mother "planting and shivering" in the drizzle and mountain wind, her four-piece dress soaked, all of these scenes of hardship spoke of the rural reality of the past and the poet's love and concern for the working farmers.
2. The mountainous landscape of Viet Bac is still the closeness between people and landscape. The years of resistance against the French made us feel close and attached to the mountains and forests of Viet Bac. This sacred forest and poisonous water is the place that shelters our soldiers. To Huu expressed the unity between people and landscape:
Mountains form thick iron ramparts, forests cover the troops, forests surround the enemy.
Immense fog on all four sides, our land and sky, the whole war zone, are of one mind
(Viet Bac, 1954)
Viet Bac - the revolutionary homeland, the head of the resistance - of course the central, prominent image will be the image of "The Central Committee and the Government discussing public affairs". And the center of the center, in the most prominent position, is the image of the Leader. Therefore, the deepest nostalgia is for Uncle Ho.
Remember the old man with bright eyes
Brown shirt with beautiful and unusual fabric pocket
(Viet Bac, 1954)
The man had passed by, but the mountains and forests were still surprised and happy, still looking after him with longing. The picture appeared like a fairy tale, but still very real, because it expressed a great truth: the people's hearts were passionately turned towards their leader.
Missing you in the early mornings, leisurely riding on the road with the murmuring stream
Remembering His footsteps on the pass He walked on, the mountains and forests looked after His shadow.
(Viet Bac, 1954)
There are not many poems about scenery in the Viet Bac collection . The scenery evoked is also evoked by only a few strokes. But just a few strokes are very rich, very diverse and full of human love. The scenery bears the mark of human hands, by the power of labor, the power of fighting.
created by human beings. To Huu describes the Dien Bien field after the victory, a truly beautiful scene.
Muong Thanh, Hong Cum, Him Lam Apricot flowers are white again, orange gardens are yellow again
(Cheers to the Dien Bien Phu soldiers, 1954)
Must overcome many hardships, sacrifices, to have that bright scene again:
Historic night, Dien Bien shines brightly
On the land, like medals on the chest of our Nation, a heroic nation.
(Cheers to the Dien Bien Phu soldiers, 1954)
Talking about the immense beauty of the Fatherland, the scenes that To Huu thinks of the most are also scenes built by human power:
Palm forests, tea hills, fragrant green fields.
(We Go Forward, 1954)
Right on Binh Ca wharf, the most beautiful part is also the ferries full of resistance sentiment:
The sun is shining, the Lo River is singing, the ferry is drifting to the Binh Ca wharf.
(We Go Forward, 1954)
The resistance war was victorious, the Party Central Committee and Uncle Ho returned to the capital, To Huu wrote about Viet Bac as the cradle of the revolutionary homeland. The poet immediately spoke of fifteen years of attachment, of the source of affection:
Who can forget those fifteen years?
The revolutionary homeland built the republic. When I return, I miss you again.
Hong Thai communal house roof, Tan Trao banyan tree.
(Viet Bac, 1954)
Even more intimate are the unique images of Viet Bac. Along with the brilliant natural scenery: "Green forest, bright red banana flowers" are the beautiful people: "High pass, sunlight shining on a knife tucked in a belt". Along with the warm scene: "Spring day, white apricot blossoms in the forest", associated with the rich image: "Remembering the person weaving hats, whittling each bamboo fiber", "Cicadas chirping, the forest of fallen leaves". Along with the image "Remembering the girl picking bamboo shoots alone", is the poetic scene "Autumn forest, moonlit, peaceful", "Remembering someone's voice singing with love and loyalty"... The verses are written naturally, as if flowing from the heart, with nostalgia for the four seasons, sometimes quiet and desolate, sometimes bustling and green. The poet must have a passionate love for the people and nature of Viet Bac to be able to capture such warm and bright images.
If nature is sometimes less beautiful, human love becomes more intimate to compensate and blend with nature:
When I go, I remember those houses. The grey reeds are desolate and full of red hearts.
(Viet Bac, 1954)
The landscape is attached to people, and together with people, we are an indivisible body. We are not only ourselves, we are also our houses, fields, mountains, rivers, sky and sea. That truth, the Viet Bac poetry collection clearly states, our country is a part of us. The sense of ownership is always imbued in To Huu's poems. Pride in the nation includes pride in the country:
Look up: the pure and heavenly August autumn is green
The clouds are drifting lazily. Today is a beautiful day.
My clouds, my red sky.
(We go forward, 1954)
The joy of victory is a joy that is so overwhelming. We go forward is a poem that speaks very well of the excitement of the masses after peace was restored. It is to be able to "walk in broad daylight", to walk leisurely "on the road", to see and embrace all of one's sky, clouds, rivers and seas:
My clouds, my blue sky
Democratic Republic of Vietnam!
(We go forward, 1954)
Reading verses like these, who can help but feel a vast, warm and generous joy? That is the joy of a man who is the master of his country.
The picture of the homeland in Viet Bac is very diverse, the homeland scenery is sometimes warm, bright and cheerful, sometimes gloomy and sad, but all are lovely and precious. Because it is always associated with our most beloved images, that is: the image of the leader, the soldier, our people. That is the bamboo shadow on the pass, the starlight on the gun barrel, the fragrant rice field, the bamboo forest, the bamboo bank, the strong wind... even the gray reeds, the pine trees at the bottom of the water, all the homeland scenery is attached to people like "shape and shadow", always intertwined, blended together and nothing can separate them.
2.4. Emotional attachment to the leader and revolutionary homeland
1. Praising President Ho is one of the greatest and most intimate themes of To Huu. Since the August Revolution until now, the poet has written many times about Uncle Ho with all his love, respect, and gratitude, as if to speak for or to speak with us the intense and irrepressible feelings of our entire nation towards our great leader.
It can be said that associated with each important historical milestone, To Huu always followed the leader's figure to record the beauty of Uncle Ho. Image of Ho Chi Minh
Minh -1945 to close From That , and Viet Bac is the continuation of From That, to have new images of Uncle Ho that are more intimate and closer.
*Ho Chi Minh - 1945
The poem Ho Chi Minh was written in August 1945, not necessarily an excellent poem. But it was the first brick that laid the foundation for building the castle of Vietnamese poetry praising the leader:
Ho Chi Minh The Old Soldier
Determined to fight and sacrifice For Vietnam's independence For world peace...
(Ho Chi Minh, 1945)
Uncle Ho entered the hearts of the Vietnamese people first of all as a soldier fighting for national independence and peace for humanity. The nation's history of patriotism and resistance to foreign invaders has determined this aesthetic emotion. Throughout the long journey of the first half of the century, our nation groaned in pain, urgently demanding a correct path to save the country and the race. Therefore, his response to that urgent need, his heart, his will and enthusiasm to save the country, as well as his name, moved not only the entire nation, but also a part of humanity that was sinking in poverty:
Ho Chi Minh
Oh sacred torch, above our heads, the national flag
A hundred centuries honor the name of the person: Patriot, eternal friend of the suffering world.
(Ho Chi Minh, 1945)