The poem describes a cave, Cac Co cave, very real and very accurate. However, the author uses some intentional words such as split into two pieces , mossy crevice , romantic water drop , endless road, exposed, carved stone, pierced (carved) and the word om (chom, phom, concave, om, peeping ) next to each other in a text, so it evokes another meaning, the implicit meaning: part of a woman's body. We see that both of these meanings are very accurate and difficult to separate. It is also closely associated with female nature, with fertility beliefs, with sexuality.
We encounter similarities when the poet describes the cave scene in the poem Huong Tich Cave :
Who is so clever at showing off? A hole appears, a drop of water falls gently.
The boat without oars bowed low….
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Reading the poem, we see similarities with her poem about the scenery of Hang Cac Co. Here, Ho Xuan Huong describes two different scenes, in two different places, at two different times, but the two poems are similar in both meaning and words. First of all, these two poems express the love of nature, the love of the homeland of the queen of Nom poetry. The language she uses in the poem seems as natural as nature itself! A " hollow " hole with " lovely drops of water " interwoven into the dynamic scene is the image of " a boat without a rudder, bent over " to create a beautiful Huong Tich cave. The phrases: cracked in two, wedged in the foot, bent over ... Besides the first meaning describing the temple scene with a poetic scene and people, the second meaning is a very Xuan Huong implicit meaning describing the vulva and human sexual activity. Here, Ho Xuan Huong talks about caves and temples, which are sacred places, places to worship gods and Buddha. Some people, when reading this poem, think that this is a religious attack. But that is not necessarily the case. The images and activities in this poem all evoke the genitals and sexual activity. The interesting thing is that she uses natural scenes to describe the parts.
on the female body. Ho Xuan Huong considered the body and the genitals on the human body as natural, created by nature, it is like nature, nature. Moreover, the " right " to describe it in literature is also a natural power. It is only possible to conceive and create with such a mindset when either people do not know or people deliberately step over, deliberately violate certain prohibitions and prohibitions that are completely contrary to this mindset, for example, prohibitions in the name of a harsh asceticism, in the name of fear of all ways of exposing the body, like the fear of exposing thoughts.
Along with a lively, active nature that creates erotic actions, fertility flourishes. In the poem Hang Thanh Hoa , a lively nature makes a strong impression on the reader's senses:
Praise the clever creation, how clever it is, how many jaws it can open, its rocky flank covered with thick grass and vines,
The water leaking through the crevices is rough and slippery.
Nature in the poem Hang Thanh Hoa in the eyes of Ho Xuan Huong is a very skillful arrangement of creation. When describing the natural scene, we see that she always sees nature in the relationship of all things, because nature does not exist alone. On the rocky slopes, " grass creeps and feels rough ", below the cliffs, " water streams leak and rustle ". The intertwined, intertwined, and blended scenes make the whole space of Huong Pagoda bustling. Huong Pagoda is so ethereal, yet it also wriggles under her pen. The scenery is not polished, not polished by the art of words, but wild and natural as if everything belongs to this world. That scene is also like the woman in her poem. They appear beautiful in the most natural and harmonious way. They are treasures created by God in this life, so everything that belongs to them, even the sensitive parts of their bodies that people are afraid to talk about, is very beautiful. Moreover, in the history of Vietnamese medieval literature, not everyone had enough talent and courage to do extraordinary things like in her poems.
Because of the desire to affirm, nature in Ho Xuan Huong's poetry is never quiet but always very lively. Along with the scenery are always vivid colors and sounds. Image of Kem Trong on the Day River:
Mountains on both sides and rivers in between.
Is this the Empty Zinc? The wind shakes the mountainside, making it rattle. The waves rush, the water splashes loudly. Inside the mountain cave, it's still a bit narrow.
Out of the mountain top is wide open
(Zinc Drum)
Through the poem Kem Trong, Ho Xuan Huong delicately describes the scene of women giving birth and at the same time expresses the noble duty of women to give birth. This is a duty that is far superior to that of men because men cannot do that. This further demonstrates the feminine nature in the poetry of the Queen of Nom poetry. The poem Kem Trong, at first reading, seems like a poem praising the scene of a river being squeezed on two sides of a very narrow cliff, close together with only enough space for a water flow like a door. But through the hidden meaning of this poem, Ho Xuan Huong wants to show men that women have a very sacred duty, far superior to men, which is the duty of giving birth and giving birth to life. In particular, in the last two lines " Passing through that door, you should look back / Who knows the burden ?" Ho Xuan Huong also wants to tell men to "look back " at themselves to remember that all men have passed through " that door " and not to forget the hardships of "the burden " of being mothers.
The cosmic bag is also a symbol related to a woman's body part. According to the legends of many ethnic groups in the world: in the past, heaven and earth were a mass of chaos, the male and female principles were mixed and not distinguished, then
is the distinction of sexual intercourse and giving birth: Heaven and earth separated to create a void. The sky, the universe, the universe became the symbol of women, only the emptiness that has no ability to reproduce. That is why there is a story : On the 30th night, the wings of the universe are pulled... On the morning of the 1st, the latch of creation is loosened. Or when Mr. Phu Vinh Tuong died, Ho Xuan Huong cried:
The balance of creation has fallen somewhere. The mouth of the universe's bag has closed.
(Crying for Mr. Phu Vinh Tuong)
There are many original symbols related to women in Ho Xuan Huong's Nom poetry , but there are very few original symbols related to sages and gentlemen. That is also a manifestation showing that in her Nom poetry, the feminine nature is always exalted.
Xuan Huong's scenes are often like that! They do not have the pale, soft colors of watercolor paintings. She does not like the sad features of a late afternoon, she does not like the yellow leaves falling in the wind, or the bewildered deer in the old forest. Every scene is restless, moving, alive, and joyful. That is the characteristic of nature in Xuan Huong's works. Nature in Ho Xuan Huong's poems always has a shape, a soul, containing the hidden meaning that the poet wants to convey, which is to talk about what belongs to women. If she praised the Creator for skillfully carving those beautiful cave scenes, then we, the descendants, are not wrong when we call her the Queen of Nom poetry. Before the vastness of nature, the poet feels her heart joyful as if she has wings to fly. The lyrical inspiration in Xuan Huong's poems about nature is an extremely bright romantic emotion. But when returning to her own life full of twists and turns, Xuan Huong's inspiration subsided, the romantic spirit disappeared, and was replaced by bitter thoughts about the reality of life.
People often compare Ho Xuan Huong with Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, a female poet born not long after Xuan Huong. That is very meaningful. Taking a typical poem by Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, Passing Ngang Pass , we will see in it a world “ without form, without color, without smell ”. There are the sounds of cuckoos and cuckoos, but in fact they are vague echoes in the human heart. And in that world, all space, all time, all people are settled in a state of eternal stasis. Xuan Huong’s poetry uses sound, movement, visual language, and imaginative associations imbued with feminine nature. The space of the boudoir is created by the door of the universe, by the birth of heaven and earth, by the clever creation of the mortal... The symbol of the couplehood is camouflaged by the " spring love " activities of men and women, which are associated with extremely funny and interesting images: jackfruit, snail, pestle, rosary, areca nut, betel leaf, pine branch, wind, rock, water... and that worldly pleasure is compared to the magic of earth-sky, mountain-rock, moon-sky, cave-hill... The language of Xuan Huong's poetry is the language of Vietnamese culture, imbued with feminine nature.
But perhaps, a special thing is that Xuan Huong's poetry takes topics from everyday life but they are topics with a double-meaning, one literal meaning is exposed, directly talking about the problem the poet describes, and one implicit meaning is talking about the bedroom, "fertility ". This is why some people think her poetry is vulgar. But in fact, Ho Xuan Huong's poetry never arouses sex but only describes and tells it as it is. Many people have even associated and thought that Ho Xuan Huong's poetry is " obscene ", often showing sexual acts between men and women. But it is a healthy sexuality expressing the desire for a happy couple of a woman who is very passionate about love and family happiness but encounters tragedy. Readers therefore always feel a nature full of vitality, a nature that is always restless and full of color.
Summary
Ho Xuan Huong's Nom poetry with landscapes and nature is imbued with feminine nature. Each verse written about nature is like a picture praising the beauty and vitality of women. These are not black and white pictures in a static state but pictures of living nature, moving, entwined, and harmonious with colors. A close, rustic nature carries the physical beauty of women. More unique is the return of fertility symbols through natural images, as if to more deeply depict the beauty of feminine nature . Through the verses written about nature, she praised the secret, primitive beauty of women hidden behind the thorny, rustic nature of a simple, familiar nature. These are also verses praising life with human aspirations imbued with feminine nature.
Chapter 3
FEMALE DIVITY THROUGH POETRY
3.1. The system of words expressing feminine nature
3.1.1. Way of addressing
The way of addressing shows the feminine nature in the poetry of the Queen of Nom poetry.
Xuan Huong's poetry is the voice and sometimes the song of Xuan Huong's heart. Those are verses written by women for women. Her literature clearly bears the color of gender, because women always look at life through their own eyes. Xuan Huong not only perceives life through a gender perspective but also perceives it through a perspective full of personality. That is why in her Nom poetry, Ho Xuan Huong uses many personal pronouns that are strongly feminine. With many different ways of addressing, but when reading, we all feel that these are the words of a female poet, a poet of women.
In her way of addressing others, she learned from traditional folk songs the motif “ My body… ”:
- My body is like a falling raindrop
Seeds in the temple, seeds in the plowed fields
- My body is like a piece of peach silk
Fluttering in the market, who knows who will get it?
Still starting with “ Than em ” but the woman in the folk song appears with a humble and somewhat pitiful attitude. Women cannot decide their own fate and happiness. But Ho Xuan Huong is different. Her courage and personality help her understand the role and position of women. Sympathizing with the misfortune of women, praising their good qualities, absorbing the inspiration of folklore, Ho Xuan Huong wrote about them with all her heart. The women in her poems are truly courageous, they do not let anyone pity them right away.
even when they fall into the most tragic situation of being unmarried and pregnant or widowed. This is what makes her Nom poetry new compared to folk songs. The women in her poems are always strong and confident with the way of addressing themselves as “ than em ”:
My body is like a jackfruit on a tree. Its skin is rough and its segments are thick.
(Jackfruit) My body is just white, my fate is full, Seven ups and three downs with the water and mountains
(Floating Cake)
Still opening with the familiar formula of folk songs, with two words: " than em ", gentle, rustic, shy but no less graceful as in folk songs but behind it is a thorny personality of Ho Xuan Huong. With just those two words, she has glorified the noble virtue of women to a higher level. Not arrogant, proud, not challenging, just "than em " shy, graceful. That is a whole art of language that shows us that Ho Xuan Huong is very quick, always absorbing the creative achievements of folk art to bring into the opening of each of her poems. However, the spirit of the poem is really new. Through that, readers can see Ho Xuan Huong's strong personality.
Not only can we see the strength and thorniness in Ho Xuan Huong's poetry, but we can also see the gentleness and femininity through the way she addresses " Thiếp" - "chàng" :
I hear a cry in the distance, missing my husband so much that I cry. Sweetly, I remember the smell of licorice. Bitterly, my dear, the taste of cinnamon.
(Joking with the old woman crying for her husband) Hey Toad! Hey Toad!
I'm just so attracted to you.
(Crying Toad)