Poetry Collection "Going to Battle" and "Blood and Flowers"

Struggle to contribute to the outside struggle movement and the poems calling for enthusiasm (the poems " Wake up and go" , "Wake up youth "), etc...

Liberation consists of 14 poems, composed in the years from 1942 to 1946. These were the years when the poet escaped from prison and lived in the seething atmosphere of revolution, preparing for the general uprising. To Huu's poetry in this period was a cry of hatred against the oppression of the two empires, France and Japan (the poems Song on the Dike , Hunger! Hunger! Hunger! ); a premonition of good news of victory (the poem Spring Comes ); the ecstasy, the endless joy of independence and freedom (the poems Hue in August , Unending Joy ), etc.

Standing out in the collection From Then is the pure romanticism of a young poetic soul intoxicated with ideals; sensitivity to life and human situations; a new lyrical self, in which personal consciousness is gradually blending with the collective and humanity; a passionate, enthusiastic, and ardent tone.

1.2.2 Poetry collection "Viet Bac"

To Huu's second collection of poems is Viet Bac - also the collection of poems marking the second period of revolutionary soldier To Huu's activities, composed mainly during the resistance war against France (1946-1954), including a total of 24 poems. Nine years of To Huu's poems, from the General Uprising, through the resistance war, to peace, have been selected into the collection of poems Viet Bac . The collection of poems is an epic poem reflecting the arduous, heroic stages and the steps of the resistance war against French colonialism until the day of victory.

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The collection of poems focuses on expressing the people of the resistance, and the first representative of that spirit is the image of the people, the people who carry the whole resistance on their shoulders, the brave angel-like National Guard, the young liaison, and above all, the image of Uncle Ho, the beloved leader - the embodiment of the quintessence and wisdom of the nation, both noble and great, yet simple and close.

The resistance soldiers first appeared in the poem, appearing strangely simple and pure. The poet looked at them with loving and respectful eyes:

Drops of sweat fall on his turmeric-yellow cheeks

Oh, my dear soldier, how I love you!

(Fish)

They came from poor farmers:

One day hungry, one day full

Running around is not enough. Two bowls of corn a day.

Go to the forest to dig for tubers…

(Mother of Viet Bac)

When joining the army, trained by the Party and the working class, those peasants wearing soldier's uniforms were filled with patriotism and love for the people. They came from the people and fought bravely for the people. No matter how much hardship there was, they were determined to overcome it:

The road to anchorage is the National Defense Road. There are many steep passes.

We cheer!

(Elephant)

With the motto of people's resistance, the picture of resistance fighters also shows the images of mothers, women, and children "young but ambitious". Touchingly, the mothers, grandmothers, and midwives endured the hardships of a hard-working life, but still always protected and cared for their children who were still fighting:

She lay on a bed of dried bananas. She couldn't sleep and was worried.

(Grandma)

Then the women joined the resistance:

My family's rice is not dry yet.

Pregnant corn in the pot, uncut cassava. My family has a baby in their arms.

I also followed my husband to destroy the road .

(Break the road)

And together with the people, the image of Uncle Ho is the most special image of the resistance man in Viet Bac. In the poem Morning of May , the poet looked at Uncle from the inside, from the depth, thereby showing us that Uncle is great not only as a general but also simple, calm, leisurely, and serene in important events as well as in daily life:

Uncle Ho in a simple brown shirt, the color of his homeland is enduring and rich.

(May Morning) Uncle Ho is close like a father, an older brother:

Child's hand holding father's hand

Uncle Ho's hand warms my skin and heart

(May morning)

The image of Uncle Ho - a leader of the country and people, very simple and gentle with a leisurely demeanor like a fairy in the midst of nature and the mountains and forests of the Northwest.

Viet Bac is also a collection of poems that clearly shows revolutionary lyricism through the description of the love between Viet Bac and the revolutionary cadres as a passionate private love. All political, economic, cultural, military, geographical, and anthropological events blend into a "loyal love song". It is a song of love of the resistance fighters for their homeland, country, and revolutionary people expressed in an art that is both classical and modern, the core of which is the tradition of gratitude and loyalty of the nation:

Remembering each smoke and mist, morning and night, the fire of the lover coming and going

Remember every bamboo forest and bank

Thia stream, Day river, Le stream, full and empty. We go and remember those days.

Here we are, there we go through the bitter and sweet. Love each other, share the roasted cassava.

Share a bowl of rice and a blanket.

(Viet Bac)

The poem of the same name is considered the theme of the entire Viet Bac collection , expressing the close attachment between those who left and those who stayed, between the lowlands and the highlands, between the cadres and Viet Bac, the homeland of the revolution, with the country and the people, with the Party and Uncle Ho, with the resistance that has become a deep memory in the soul. Viet Bac is a heartfelt, sweet and affectionate song that is very typical of the poetic soul and poetic style of To Huu. It is still the voice of love, but it is love for the homeland, for the revolution and for the people. Perhaps that is why the collection of poems still lacks specific, individual people, the private feelings of the lyrical "I". In terms of art, although it is considered an important step of maturity for To Huu's poetry, an outstanding achievement of Vietnamese poetry during the resistance war against the French, the innovative elements in the collection of poems are not yet clear.

1.2.3 Poetry collection "Strong wind"

In the collection Gio Long , To Huu's poems really brought a new wind, expressing the excitement of the country builder. The collection of poems was written by To Huu during the time when the North was building socialism and the South was continuing to fight against the US. The collection of poems Gio Long exploited great sources of inspiration, which were also the feelings that dominated the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people at that time: joy, pride, confidence in the work of building a new socialist life in the North, feelings for the South and the will to unify the country, and open proletarian international feelings towards brother countries. The collection of poems has a strong epic tendency and positive romantic inspiration.

First of all in Windy is the proud joy of the winner:

A piece of land in hand, though not yet complete, the red flag is flying!

Vietnam, heroic nation

Empty hands but have succeeded to become a Man!

(Spring Song 1961)

Next is the poet's joyful song in the bustling, exciting atmosphere of the country on the path of building socialism, in the context of an agricultural country with many difficulties:

We hold hands to rebuild our lives

Rice fields, potato fields, cassava fields, eggplant gardens, pigsty, chicken flocks, buffalo herds, fish ponds

Clean up every bit of fallen manure, pick up every leaf, every piece of coal, every piece of iron, every pound of corn

We cherish and save to build a career!

(Spring Song 61)

And even more happily, we have built new relationships between people:

What is more beautiful in the world than that?

Love each other, live to love each other!

(Spring Song 61)

In the North, life is like a big festival, everywhere you look you see joy. However, we still cannot forget the pain of the division of the country, and we always remember the South:

These past few days, like a homesick child, I've been wandering around, restless, going in and out. I hear the sound of wooden fish and the sound of guns. The South is awake, cheering and bustling .

(Spring Song 61)

Remembering the South that was still persistently fighting against the American invaders, the poet also expressed a will to unify the country.

In short, the collection of poems Windy Wind expressed joy, pride, and confidence in the new socialist life in the North, praised the new life, new people, praised the Party - Uncle Ho, expressed affection for the South, encouraged the struggle for national reunification, and affirmed proletarian internationalism. The collection of poems brought to revolutionary life an optimistic belief in victory.

1.2.4 Poetry collections "Going to Battle" and "Blood and Flowers"

The two collections Ra tran (1962-1971) and Mau va Hoa (1972-1977) are the poetic journey of To Huu during the fierce and heroic years of the resistance war against the US of the whole nation until the day of total victory. To Huu's poetry at this time was a song of battle, an order to attack and a heroic call and encouragement of the whole nation in the fight in both the South and the North. Affirming the great and noble significance of the resistance war against the US for the history of the nation and the times, To Huu's poetry also expressed the poet's new thoughts and discoveries about the Vietnamese nation and people that the author always praised with pride and admiration.

True to the name of the poetry collection, Going to Battle expresses the heroic, forward-moving spirit of an entire nation:

Splitting Truong Son to save the country, with a heart full of hope for the future

(Following Uncle Ho)

Attached to that is still the image of the liberation army soldiers, who are given so much love and admiration by the author. The poet respectfully greets you, the most beautiful person. In the poem, you appear in mythical beauty:

He went back and forth, roaming freely, his long strides like the wind shaking the mountains.

The oars of a small boat, While the river water is rough and the ocean is surging

(Spring song)

And the national soul - President Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the resistance war, always accompanies To Huu's poems:

We have Uncle Ho leading the way, Uncle Ho is with us, every step is difficult.

How happy the marching day was in the blazing sun, Suddenly meeting Him, on horseback on a high pass...

Oh dear, in the morning when you left for the battlefield, you came to visit me, crossing the flood. How I miss you, in the midst of the battlefield, watching us destroy the fort!

(Following Uncle Ho)

Going to battle is truly a heroic battle song of our army and people. Next, Blood and Flowers has the meaning of summarizing the development process of the nation, of the Vietnamese Revolution - a journey full of blood and flowers. Blood: a symbol of the pain and resentment in the long night of slavery and blood is the sacrifice, self-sacrifice for a great cause. Flowers: a symbol of the beauty of communist ideals, of heroism and the joy of victory. A typical poem in the collection of poems is the poem " Nguoc non ngan dam", it can be said that "Nguoc non ngan dam" is one of the wonderful long poems of To Huu. The remarkable success of the poem is that it speaks for, speaks correctly the thoughts and feelings of compatriots, soldiers, of people of all classes in many regions of the country towards the past resistance war and preparing to enter a new situation, a new stage of the revolutionary cause. In the poem “Nguoc non ngan dam” (The Country of Thousand Miles), there are many verses and passages that vividly and attractively describe the colorful life in the Central, Central Highlands, Southern regions and even the border areas with the two neighboring countries of Laos and Cambodia. The poet takes us to the warm sunlight on the Lao Bao forest; the brilliant moonlight on Ben Gieng (Quang Nam); to the majestic Central Highlands and the lush fruit gardens in Tay Ninh, Dong Thap, Ben Tre… And the legendary Truong Son road that remains indelibly imprinted in the hearts of many liberation soldiers is still:

Truong Son, split lengthwise, split crosswise.

Shovel hands to write a rosy history. Truong Son, cross mountains, cross rivers

The car goes in hundreds of directions, the victory is in four seasons. Truong Son, sunny in the winter, rainy in the west.

Who has not been there, as if not knowing himself.

(Thousand miles of mountains and rivers)

1.2.5 Poetry collection "A sound of the guitar"

After Blood and Flowers, at the age of over 70, To Huu continued to publish the poetry collection A Musical Instrument published in 1993 with 72 poems composed during peacetime over a period of more than ten years (1978 - 1992). A Musical Instrument , still To Huu in the familiar poetic voice to remind people to focus on the great emotions of the nation, the noble goals of the revolution, he remained faithful to the source of themes of revolutionary life, of the whole country. In the face of a new reality, there was a new voice, a new tone in To Huu, which were the lines of thoughts and concerns from the flow of emotions during peacetime, because life was no longer burning, so appeared fresh lines of poetry - full of inspiration from the world. The poetic themes were rich and diverse: praising the beauty of the homeland, the people; the complex work of building the country; love and human destiny;... The poetic sound is less distant (extroverted) but resonates deeper (introverted), sometimes it seems to touch something private of the end of life looking back: "The last night of the year, a single lamp" . In this collection of poems, To Huu returns to an introspective writing style, very close to the period "From then on". There is a very strong inner struggle: "Only seventy, why is it called old" . The writing style is not wild and heroic but quiet in contemplation. In the calmness of the poetic voice, there is the firmness of will:

We go again, as from that time we left.

The enthusiasm makes me feel young again.

1.2.6 Poetry collection "You and I"

And with the same inspiration in the peaceful period of the country's renovation, at the age of 80, the author affirmed that his poetic soul was still burning, throbbing with his thoughts in the collection "Ta voi ta" . This is also To Huu's last collection of poems, composed in the last ten years of his life (1993-2001). The poetic voice is down, full of thoughts, worries about the way of life, people's hearts, about the finiteness of time is the outstanding feature of To Huu's poetry in the last collection of poems, in the capacity of an individual rather than as a revolutionary soldier before.

It can be seen in general that in the period 1945-1975, To Huu's poetry was always loyal to the communist ideal, To Huu's poetry represents the trend of political lyric poetry. Poetry has a unity between the purpose of revolutionary propaganda and lyrical content. Xuan Dieu affirmed "To Huu has brought political poetry to the level of extremely lyrical poetry".

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