also lies in the above associational field to express the poet's profound implication. Those are invisible obstacles in life that people must overcome. As the great poet of the 15th century said:
Flowers often wither, grass often stays fresh
( Nguyen Trai )
The beauty of the poem is not simply on the surface of the words but in the hidden depths. Beauty and ugliness, good and evil, angels and demons, dragons and phoenixes, snakes and centipedes are always intertwined and exist in life. Therefore, we must light a fire to light the way, and we must sweep away the trash to clean up everywhere . Lighting a fire and sweeping are two metaphors that refer to the actions that people must do to push back obstacles and difficulties. Especially obstacles in the way of looking at and thinking about all problems of life. The poet raises a problem of great significance for the times with gentle and affectionate words.
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* Metaphor of manner
This type of metaphor is formed on the basis of similarities in the way of action between objects. With 39 appearances, the metaphor of manner in To Huu's poetry has brought readers many profound emotions.
The poetic and lyrical Huong River appears painfully in his poem when he writes about the miserable and humiliating life of a prostitute under the old regime:
And:
My life is a bamboo boat going downstream'
(Song of the Perfume River)
I go with the empty boat When will it reach the shore to leave the river of lust
(Song of the Perfume River)
The metaphorical image of the wharf - the lewd stream with the bamboo boat, the boat is not only a means of transport, but is also seamlessly connected with the words indicating the manner of action such as going - entering - leaving of the lyrical subject, creating familiar metaphors of manner. The way of speaking is familiar but not boring because the poet has put into it the painful mood of the prostitute in the old regime. Feeling her shameful humiliation, the girl wants to escape from the humiliating life by the act of going to the wharf to leave the lewd stream . The story of the river with the boat, the wharf, the flow ... is actually the story of the vicissitudes of human life. The depth and the hidden stream of the words are in the fact that the artist has created unique combinations of words. The boat and the wharf in this verse are no longer the story of the one who stays - the one who goes with the longing and waiting of the young man and woman in love expressed in Vietnamese folk songs, but the heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching story of a human life in the old society.
Talking about the sacrifices and losses in war, To Huu affirmed the self-sacrifice for the country of many generations:
Each fallen corpse will be a bridge for us to step to the vast world.
(Stand up)
The revolutionary path is not only full of fragrant flowers and sweet fruits, but also full of danger and death. The image of fallen corpses - the bridge is built on the association of the sacrifice of revolutionary soldiers and the incarnation in the bridges leading to the shore of glory, to the shore of happiness. The vast world is a metaphor for the world of light, freedom and happiness, the paradise that the people dream of. The number of fallen corpses and spilled blood are the bridges for our nation to step into the vast world. That is blood and flowers in the beautiful way of speaking of the poet.
With a steadfast revolutionary stance, soldiers always stand firm at the forefront of the storm. They always face death without the slightest fear or discouragement:
If we can be seeds for the next season, If history chooses us as a fulcrum, What is more joyful than being a soldier at the forefront? In the dark night, our hearts are the fire.
(Hello Spring 67)
The verb “to act” appears four times in the phrases “to be a seed”, “to be a fulcrum”, “to be a leading soldier”, and “to be a flame”, giving the poem a high expressive power. The metaphor of “to be a method” is built on the close relationship of similarities between things and the method of action. Choosing the seed, the fulcrum, the leading soldier, and the flame in the night means that the revolutionary soldier has chosen for himself a pioneering position in the era.
Be the fragrant golden rice plant, Be the birds chirping morning and evening, Be the brick walls paving the cool village roads
(Distant whistle)
The noble philosophy of life in the new life is the affirmation of the desire to contribute and integrate of each individual. That philosophy is expressed by the poet through the metaphorical image of fragrant golden rice plants, the chirping of birds and brick walls. That wish seems small and simple but is extremely noble and precious. Do all of those things naturally and innocently like life itself. That noble motto of life will be the fulcrum for the dedication and sacrifice of people of the era.
2.1.2.2. Additional metaphors
Complementary metaphor is a combination of two or more words that indicate feelings arising from different sensory centers, making the feeling rich, multidimensional, multi-flavored, and polysemous. According to our statistics, complementary metaphors appear
appears 53 times in To Huu's poetry. The frequency of this type of metaphor is not much but brings high artistic effect.
The change of feeling often brings unexpected and interesting changes to the verse. Additional metaphor is one of the ways of using which brings high aesthetic effect. When talking about revolutionary ideals, the poet has many unique and attractive images.
For example, the rich, complex and changing spiritual world of the poet-soldier is described very delicately:
Inside me, a volcano is full of steam
Screaming loudly like today
(Fighting)
Imagining a volcano in his heart, the poet feels it with his most sensitive sense, that sense belongs to the spiritual world. The invisible world, subtle and elusive. What can be seen is felt by the heart, by the soul, and then heard roaring to the sky. Thanks to the transformation of feelings, the poet can express the deep things in his heart. The volcano in his heart is also the intoxication of ideals, the scent of truth, the passion for fighting,... However, in this verse, the author speaks of ideals in a unique and attractive way.
The sweet singing and the fragrant singing in the following lines of poetry are also additional metaphors:
Ah! The voice is sweet as sugar.
… Listen to the sweet song
of the children
(Blue Night)
The sound of singing affects human hearing. Yet, in this verse, the author feels its sweetness , smells the fragrance of the singing and feels its coolness . From hearing to taste, smell and touch... isn't that the subtlety of the soul? The poet hears the children's singing not only with his ears but also with his tongue, skin, nose... "permeating into the soul". At this time, all senses are mobilized to the utmost and lead to interference and penetration. Feeling the singing is feeling the sweetness and gentleness of a free and peaceful life. To Huu also hears many other wonderful things:
I heard the water flowing up the mountain
I heard the land turn into a long river I heard the wind blow again tomorrow
Heard the spirit of the times rising
(Thirty years of our life with the Party)
The metaphor of transforming feelings is expressed through the poet's extremely subtle and novel way of perceiving the world. Listening to tomorrow's wind and listening to the soul of the times are metaphors that show the miraculous inclination of the human soul... Listening to tomorrow's wind is to feel and imagine the cool winds of the future; listening to the soul of the times is to feel in the depth of life, to feel the profound spiritual world of the people of the time. Thus, To Huu did not listen with mere hearing but he listened with all his heart and soul. Thus, the complementary metaphor has fulfilled its mission in the realm of lyric poetry.
2.1.2.3. Symbolic metaphor
A symbolic metaphor is a combination of an abstract concept with a sensory concept. A symbolic metaphor is formed on the basis of the dissimilarity of two concepts: an abstract concept and a
concrete concepts. The concepts of feeling in symbolic metaphors have a phenomenon of meaning transfer from the material to the spiritual field.
The world of the soul, the range of human emotions, is inherently invisible, complex and difficult to name. Thanks to symbolic metaphors, that spiritual world still appears clearly with specific nuances:
Arise, souls of steel
(Wake up young man)
Steel soul is a combination of two different concepts. Soul refers to the spiritual world, something that belongs to the spirit, is invisible and difficult to grasp. Steel is a concrete concept, a tangible thing, visible, touchable and predictable. Thanks to this combination, we can imagine the spirit, willpower and mettle of a communist. That steel soul is forged by the hatred of the soldier. The expression hatred is also combined in the above way.
In his heart, hatred was burning.
(Chau Ro)
Block is a concept that belongs to matter, can see the shape, see the size small or big ... Hatred belongs to the spirit, only refers to the emotional state of a person. The metaphor of a block of hatred in the verse describes the hatred that is compressed, appearing as a block, forming a shape. This is a strange way of speaking to concretize the hatred of the poet. The symbolic metaphor has brought into play its strength in expressing the spiritual world of a person. To Huu sees "The whole future is filled with the sweet aroma" in his belief in life:
Rich in faith, life is still joyful. The whole future is filled with sweet and delicious flavors.
(Missing you )
The future is an abstract concept, referring to human plans ahead. The fragrant taste directly affects human senses.
people. The fragrant aroma that permeates the air affects the sense of smell and the rich taste that people perceive through their sense of taste. That taste is associated with the material world that exists around us. Thus, the symbolic metaphor here has a combination of two different concepts that create strange associations.
Old and new, familiar and strange always have an attraction for everyone. The poet sees new and attractive things ahead:
Overcoming the great waves of the long road, we will arrive at new horizons.
(New Horizons)
New horizon is a metaphor for many new things in life that people are longing for. It is also a strange land, promising a bright, radiant future. That land invites and urges people to move forward.
Thus, symbolic metaphors are unique and novel creations of the poet and that creation is consistent with the language usage habits of the community. Therefore, when approaching symbolic metaphors, we have a feeling of both strangeness and familiarity. In To Huu's poetry, this type of metaphor appears 28 times with unique and unexpected word combinations.
2.1.2.4. Metaphorical variation group
Metaphors come in two varieties: personification and reification. These are two contrasting ways of creating vivid and evocative images.
* Personification
Personification is a metaphor that attributes human attributes to non-human objects. Personification is formed on the basis of associating similarities between non-human objects and humans. This association is subjective to the user but must be consistent with the psychology and language usage habits of the community.
Appearing 214 times in the collection of poems, personification has created a very lively artistic world in To Huu's poetry, close to everyday life.
Personification is used by To Huu a lot when he confides in his homeland and country. To Huu also loves his people and country immensely. He loves every blade of grass and tree branch of the country's nature. The mountains and forests of the war zone appear in To Huu's poems as if they have a soul:
The mountains are built of thick iron walls.
The forest covers the troops, the forest surrounds the enemy.
(Viet Bac)
Beautiful Viet Bac has become an iron rampart protecting and sheltering the soldiers and besieging the enemy. Perhaps, the author has breathed life into the natural landscape here. Each mountain name, river name, village name is associated with a glorious feat of arms of the Viet Bac army and people.
Calling the name of his hometown's rivers and waters, To Huu also called spring " Miss Spring" , " You" in an affectionate and loving way.
Spring, oh spring, you have only come for a few years, but life is already bustling with festivals.
(Spring song 1961)
The beauty of life itself is poetry, music, and painting. Poet To Huu confided: "Poetry only overflows when life is truly full in our hearts." Not only conversing with nature and the country, To Huu also converses with poetry:
The rooster crows in the morning. Oh poetry, with wings of fire, please fly away. The bird calls in front of the door.
(Spring Song 1961)