Tradition and innovation in Nguyen Duy's poetry

difficult to understand, but when deciphered, it is easy to understand. Expressing a content about random things: "improvisation, random love, random life, then random death, random nothingness", with extremely tight and not random words, using the opposite to express the opposite - Nguyen Duy has emphasized what he wants to say, the ultimate value is love that does not follow any framework but still follows throughout life. The end of the poem is a gentle randomness, dissolving the confusing tangles above, and that is what remains of the poem and also what the poet wants to express.

Sometimes, the poet’s sharp and cold pen hides under the words of the times to display the entire “earthly dance hall” on the page of poetry. Reading “Dancing”, we are also “biologically disturbed” by the disorder of values, created from a series of modern words: dance hall, monopoly, magnetic field, dance floor, “chachacha, twee tango, waltz, lo to mo”… The dance hall of words creates the dance hall of life, revealing the poet’s thoughts.

Few people put "TV" in poetry, but Nguyen Duy put into his poetry a very humorous "feeling":

Sit and wonder about the TV, open it up to see if there's anyone inside.

Maybe you are interested!

Liver exposed, intestines hanging out, thought it was someone but turned out to be nothing

(Question)

It seems that the “question” is of children, but it turns out that adults cannot explain it even if they dissect it. And it seems that the “question about TV” is simple and humorous, but it turns out that it contains vague contemplations of the times. Then, many phenomena of life are put into poetry by Nguyen Duy in a language that was only born in this era. This is a very new feature of Nguyen Duy, his poetry quickly and truthfully reflects the times. If we talk about Nguyen Duy’s poetry

Being rich in current events is not wrong, but it does not mean propagating poetry, but rather it expresses a sensitive, delicate worldview, true to the artist's calling: like an insect spreading its antennas to catch the waves of the times. Reading: "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth" we feel like we are about to explode because everything is being decomposed, disintegrated, and most importantly, the author has created a feeling of frustration, no way out and helplessness before the negative aspects of society for the reader. That is thanks to the words of the times under the poet's sharp, sensitive pen.

Not only did Nguyen Duy incorporate standard contemporary language into his poetry, he also created a new aesthetic sense with non-standard language that had almost never appeared in poetry before. The language that was only used in trivial, even ordinary conversations, made the verses and the author's tone somewhat witty, humorous, and somewhat carefree:

I'm carefree with you

Carefree to each other, no need for many words. Carefree to mortgage one's life.

empty handed but still a little bit thinks the sky is the limit

( Carefree )

The author goes from the standard “carefree” to the dusty “carefree” of everyday life, as if wanting to express the extreme of “carefree” – not needing anything – but at that very non-standard extreme, a regretful “unwillingness” is revealed. And to drink up the nostalgia, the desire to “return to youth a few more times for me” to “be loved like a folk song”, to not have to witness modern love and “suddenly cry with eyes filled with frost”, to cry for help from “young leaves”, the poet exclaimed:

Do you love that much?

one hundred percent and one hundred percent

After the reproach is the usual “percent” clinking of glasses, the reproach is real and the clinking of glasses is also very real, the poet uses this real thing to “eliminate” another real thing. Love is realized “there is nothing older than that/there is nothing newer than that”, but people are very different, between the past and the present, so we have to use “one hundred percent” to consider ourselves “injured at the bottom of our eyes” and “pity ourselves for getting old”. But after drinking that helpless glass of wine, people crave even more despair, “one hundred percent” is absolutely opposite to the emptiness of desire. The words create the feeling of feelings being turned on in a drunken state, often a very real feeling, this dizzy tone creates the lyrical quality of the poem, and turns the seemingly lost “one hundred percent” into something very reasonable and emotional.

In a moment of sadness, the poet expressed his view of people and life in extremely common language:

- The falling drops are a bit clear, the eyes are a bit roundabout and messy.

(Sadness 1)

- Stupid and a bit hot in the head

Blindness makes you stupid for a long time.

(Sadness 2)

“Slightly” is a word indicating a degree, which is always followed by an adjective indicating a negative passive voice, for example: slightly painful, slightly broken, slightly sick… but also very selective, but today, the common people abuse it, combine it inappropriately, such as: slightly stylish, slightly enchanting, slightly famous… which has become a trend. Nguyen Duy “seized” this linguistic phenomenon and added: “Sad heart 1,2” creating a sideways glance at society. Readers receive a unique and sincere language, very attractive because the poet has used it quite “skillfully” and in a timely manner to convey a very Nguyen Duy inner feeling. Although “slightly”

"bi" indicates a relatively low level, but all values are seen at a high level, and "a little bit" has made you more beautiful, while I am "extremely" wrinkled. And perhaps, the feeling of "a little bit" on both sides, both in terms of the reality of the mood, and also in terms of the sad linguistic phenomenon of the era, is encapsulated in the verse "the nerves are a little confused/ the person is a little naughty, I am a little naughty" of ours is a deviation from the standard, between the person and the naughty, between the standard and the non-standard, there is ambiguity, the permutation has fully expressed the state of "the nerves are a little confused" in the author's moment of sadness.

Putting the language of the times into poetry, especially words that are not recognized by books, is a new breakthrough of Nguyen Duy. Using the negative aspects of society to express itself in poetry has created a genuine and direct value for Nguyen Duy's poetry. And it seems that there is no more effective language to express the state of mind that is always awake to the beat of social life, the state of mind that always wants to enlighten the hidden corners, the negative aspects of society, even if it is very small in daily speech.

The natural quality in Nguyen Duy's poetry is created by the layer of everyday language, and the undisguised local words. It is this layer of words that brings life into poetry and brings poetry back to life, making Nguyen Duy's poetry richer in folklore, both rustic and authentic, and also expressing the artist's own personality. Reading the verses in "Midnight", we feel the "mortal world" closer and more real, just like "lying around us". Because saints, philosophers, heroes and poets are all dragged down by Nguyen Duy, lowered from their illusory pedestals... to expose the values that are being lost and destroyed. The words of life put into poetry such as: lying down, sticking out the tongue, scratching the head, yawning, spitting out pearls and pearls... evoke scenes of laughter and tears in the moments of restlessness about life:

The mortal world is upside down around us

The sage stuck out his tongue and the philosopher scratched his head.

Hero yawned long ago

The poet spits out pearls and jade

Sometimes the author describes himself as carefree: “tired, spreading his legs to dry the apricots/ suddenly the crows’ voices echoed on the banks of the Loa River”. “Spreading legs” goes with “drying the apricots” – the author creates jealousy between the two images, but the jealousy highlights a rustic person – a simple soul, the “drying the apricots” is very devoted and the “spreading legs” is also very “attentive” to expanding. Readers find it interesting to read the everyday poems with a bit of humor from the folk way. In contrast to this way of speaking from the locality, it creates a very “rustic” identity of Nguyen Duy: “mother’s house is narrow but still loves a place to sleep/ mother only complains that there are not enough mats and blankets”, “father still smiles even though he has no teeth”… . The people of Thanh, the author’s hometown – appear simple, not lost anywhere by the words with a strong local imprint. That is also the author’s feelings for his hometown, cherishing and poeticizing the rustic, simple things of the hometown.

And the uniqueness in Nguyen Duy’s use of words is also shown in the fact that the author uses colloquial language - words used only for speaking - in his poetry. It is not easy to immediately acknowledge the colloquial value in Nguyen Duy’s poetry, because it always creates the first negative reaction. Let’s read the verses in: “White and… white…”

oh my god... is it tender yet?

The pure powder has just been sifted

…oh my gosh so soft

…oh my god, how beautiful

… oh my god so soft

We encounter the excessiveness that seems careless. But when reading the two sentences of the epigraph: "first time seeing white snow/ gray hair of a person far from home..." and reading the two sentences of the conclusion: "cold back remembering the hollow fields, the northeast monsoon blowing in the bones of the person", suddenly realize that the "blurted out cry of oh my god" is the cry of astonishment, surprise before the new, the majestic - a soul thirsty for the new, now the new is displayed before the eyes, how can one not cry out so directly, so sincerely, especially with the soul of a simple countryman. And behind that sincerity is the feeling of "gray hair": nostalgia for home, from the cold of snow, nostalgia for the northeast monsoon of the homeland, a strange nostalgia, nostalgia for the cold and hardship. It seems that the farther one goes, the more one cherishes and loves the things that are closest to them, no matter how painful it is. The colloquial language in Nguyen Duy's poetry is like a very clear handshake that brings us to the front of the poem, to the author's feelings. The colloquial language does not carry poetic qualities, so of course it makes us more awake to recognize the author's life or soul in the poem, somewhat more deeply, sometimes even more intoxicating:

- Well then… sell some pure gold to survive the hard days.

(Sell gold)

- Only the wine drop is new.

Once you drink a drop of wine, you can't drink it again. Please enjoy.

(improvisational pick-up and drop-off)

- Reach out and pick a random page.

I hope Kim Trong will get the So Khanh guy again.

- Please listen to me very seriously.

(Dust rice)

- Have you loved rolling around and falling in love yet ?

(Being loved like a folk song)

Nguyen Duy's poetic language is closely linked to life, from the language of the times to the language emerging from the dark corners of reality, colloquialisms, and local words that have created a new and unique feature that Nguyen Duy has achieved. The words have revealed the poet's deepest state of mind, while also clearly marking the times in Nguyen Duy's poetry. Although not always achieving values, everyday words have entered poetry naturally and authentically, creating something unique for Nguyen Duy.

3.2.2. Rich visual language

Nguyen Duy innovates poetry mostly in thinking, and poetic language is the expression of thinking, so language is a clearly innovated element. Not only does Nguyen Duy have unique and new choices from life, his language is also original creations that enrich Vietnamese prepositions in terms of a language rich in imagery.

First of all, the layer of reduplicated words is thoroughly used by Nguyen Duy to express his overflowing emotions. It can be said that no poet has used as many reduplicated words to evoke comprehensive sounds and images as Nguyen Duy. And reduplicated words are always rich in imagery and at the same time make the verse have a gentle appeal, close to the voice of the mood:

- Gentle spring labor

Flowers gently open , fragrance drifts

- Sparkling grass dew drops

Parallel to the barefoot road far away

- white shirt is white shirt flying

The fragile days are faintly visible

Nguyen Duy's poetry seems to move, Nguyen Duy's feelings move in each word thanks to the repeated words with quite high density, but do not reduce

goes with the deep lyricism. On the contrary, it shows Nguyen Duy's personality - preferring something strong to convey the ultimate emotion:

- The ship's strung up , mouth open, talking loudly. The newspaper girl was warm and mumbled love poems.

Trivia is sometimes a “fire-fighting”

Existing in moderation and daydreaming (Royalty debt)

- Humming and singing with a lisp , people laugh and insult people who keep their mouths shut.

(Drowsy voice).

It seems that everything, every story is brought to its climax thanks to these reduplicated words. Nguyen Duy uses reduplicated words flexibly and sensitively. The meaning of reduplicated words can be reduced, increased, expanded, or narrowed compared to the meaning of the original word. Nguyen Duy has applied this advantage of reduplicated words in his poetry:

The mortal world is less sparkling

You girls should be less pretty . (Abstinence)

The subtle humorous way of speaking shows a youthful soul and a passion for life despite being sick. Less “xình xình xinh” evokes a feeling just a little bit, not much but actually praising the girls for being very pretty. The meaning of the reduplicated word is lightened to express the poet’s optimistic mood. On the contrary, in “Nợ”, the reduplicated word makes the verse both have the image of “broken” so many “debts”, and also has the sound of breaking:

"Debt of love, debt of hate, debt of love

" Too tong ...

Tradition and innovation in Nguyen Duy's poetry - 14

Comment