Topic: How was the thought “Country of the People” expressed in the chapter “Country” (excerpt from the epic “Street of aspiration”) by Nguyen Khoa Diem?
Lecture: Country (Nguyen Khoa Diem) – Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Anh (Teacher )
“Suburban land” (1972), “Street surface of aspiration” (1974) by Nguyen Khoa Diem shows a poetic soul rich in contemplation, pent-up emotions, expressing the thoughts of an intellectual youth in front of the challenges. the great problem of our nation in the anti-American era.
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The poem “Country” is chapter V of the epic “The surface of aspiration”. Before Nguyen Khoa Diem, the topic of the country’s homeland was said very well and very lovingly in famous poems such as “Across the Duong River (Hoang Cam), “Country” (Nguyen Dinh Thi), “Homeland”. “(Giang Nam),… “Country” by Nguyen Khoa Diem is a song – the awareness of the deep origin of the Country, the intellect, soul and will of the People created by the people. a “Country of the People, Country of folk songs and myths” – It can be said that the thought “Country of the People” has been expressed deeply and uniquely in this “Country” poem.
The verse is 110 free-verse verses, rich in folklore material. We have a feeling: folk songs, folk songs, legends, fairy tales, … have incarnated in the poems “Country”. From people to scenery, from details taken from the rhythm of hard-working, rustic life such as “spicy ginger, salty salt”, such as “named truss”, “betel nut”, “rice grain”, .. The story of “falling in love and having children”, the story of “rowing a boat, pulling a boat over a waterfall”… is just that simple, but opens up an extremely familiar art space, making us feel strange in our hearts. proud of a country that “claims a long civilization” (Nguyen Trai). That folklore material has been used by the poet as an artistic technique to create uniqueness and aesthetic beauty, and through the system of images and lyrical inspiration to express enthusiastically and liberally. The main ideology “Country of the People” gives readers a lot of pride and emotion.
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If Nguyen Dinh Thi’s poem “Country” is a poignant and heroic voice, Hoang Cam’s “Beyond the Duong River” is a deep, resonant poetic voice, .., then in this verse, Nguyen Khoa Diem expressed his thoughts about the Country in the form of a heart-to-heart conversation.
The first part of the song, the author talks about the history of the country – a country formed from “once upon a time” … through four thousand “long” years. Without recounting the heroic history, glorious victories, famous heroes that “you and I both remember” Nguyen Khoa Diem has deployed inspiration about the Country with simple, ordinary things very close. close and dear to all Vietnamese families. There is a mother’s voice, her betel nut, there is a legend “The country grew up when its people knew how to plant bamboo and fight against the enemy”… There are fine customs and traditions, there is love for parents, there is sweat to make cotton. rice grain, has the people’s language, the words created by the people to name the things around them…
… ” The country started with the betel nut she now eats,
The country grew up when its people knew how to plant bamboo to fight the enemy
Mom’s hair is pulled at the back of her head
Parents love each other with salty and spicy ginger
The truss, the column to the name,
Rice grains must be ground, pounded, ground, sieved
The country has existed since that day…”.
The above poem is reminiscent of the legend “Saint Giong”, the fairy tale “Trau Areca”, the custom of bunting the hair of Au Lac people, reminiscent of folk songs about husband and wife love, about farm work. Poetry, though only suggestive, only paints a few light, vague, distant but full of flavor.
The country is idyllic and lovely, cuddly and close to “you” and “you” to each boy and girl. “Earth is where you go to school – Water is where you bathe”; is the banyan tree, the well, the communal house yard, the wharf “where we have a date”, the place where “you dropped the towel in secret nostalgia”; is a wonderful folk song that has permeated the blood and soul of every Vietnamese person since he was still in the cradle:
“The land is where “the phoenix flies to the silver mountain”,
Water is the place where the “sea-water hoofed fish”…
The country is sacred and proud. Father Dragon and Mother Fairy created this Country. Whispering poems about deep and heavy love. It leads our souls back to their roots through a magical legend:
“… The land is where the bird returns,
Water is where the Dragon lives
Lac Long Quan and Au Co
Spread out our compatriots in the eggs”…
The thought “Country of the People” is talked about in an extremely profound way when the poet praises the people’s sweat and blood. The country lasts through “a long time” and spreads over a “vast space”. It was the People who poured their blood and sweat to build and protect the Country. An industrious and brave people. A class of people who know how to do good business and live in a proud position. The couple’s story is not about love but about young love:
“… my dear
Look far away
In the four thousand years of the Country
Every year, every year is a person in class
Girls and boys the same age as us
Hard work
When there is a war, the son goes to war
The daughter returned to raise the child
When the enemy came to the house, the women also fought
Many people have become heroes…”.
During thousands of years of history, it was the People who created this Country: “No one remembers to name it – But they made the Country”. Rice grains planted by our people’s hands; take the coal, bow to keep the fire; pass on to the children the voice of the father; build dams on the banks”… and to make fruit trees They “made” and “have kept”, “they commanded”, “they built dams on the banks”…and “four thousand classes of people” did. should all:
“… They kept and passed on to me the grain I planted,
They pass fire through every house, from coal to bow
They pass their voices on to their children to practice speaking
They carry the name of the commune, the name of the village to migrate.
They build dams on the banks for people to plant trees and pick fruit….”
The poetic language (keeping and transmitting, carrying, building dams and beheadings) is pressed again and again to highlight the industrious tradition of the People – the owner of the Country.
“Our people have a passionate patriotism. It is a precious tradition of mine” (Ho Chi Minh). “Our Country – The Country of Those Who Never Die” (Nguyen Dinh Thi); “Sword on his back, soft hand with a flower pen” (Huy Can); “Draw the sword and refuse to live and kneel” (To Huu). Nguyen Khoa Diem also has a unique way of saying that thought:
“If there is a foreign invasion, then it is against the foreign invasion
If there are internal enemies, rise up and defeat them.”
The ideology of “Country and People” is the praise of the people’s blood and sweat. “Without sweat and blood, peoples cannot have history” (Engels). That is why the young poet wrote:
“Let this Country be the People’s Country
The Country of the People, the Country of the mythical folk songs”.
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Two verses that four times repeat the word “Country” twice and repeat the word “People”, show how much love!
Our country is extremely magnificent with high mountains, long rivers, wide sea, with straight fields of flying storks. The names of mountains and rivers have reflected in national poetry. “Bach Dang Giang Phu” by Truong Han Sieu, “Duc Thuy Son”, “Con Son Ca”, by Uc Trai, “Crossing the Ngang Pass” by Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, “Night on the Tra River” by Cao Ba Quat, etc.. Giang Son is so proud of himself! “Very beautiful, my country!” (To Huu). Nguyen Khoa Diem also talked about the mountains and rivers of the Country, but he did not talk about “the talented people of the land”, “the treacherous mandarin”, “a sunset scene”… but had a particular way of speaking. Each place, each landscape is like an engraving, carving into heaven and earth the beauty of the soul with the precious virtues of our people such as the faithful love of the hills, the undying strength, the will to live. self-sufficient, self-sufficient, studious, industrious, skillful, kind-hearted, tolerant…:
… “Wives who miss their husbands also contribute to the country Vong Phu mountains,
Couples who love each other contribute to Trong Mai island
“Saint Giong’s hooves passed through and left a hundred ponds and lagoons”
Ninety-nine elephants contribute to build the land of the Hung Kings
The dragons lie dormant in the deep blue river
The poor student contributes to his country, but mountain but not Nghien”.
There are land names, village names with thousands of duplicates that evoke in the hearts of today’s readers the memory of their fathers who used to “bring a sword to open the realm”, encroached on the sea, reclaimed land, cut glass, set tigers, catch crocodiles, and dig canals. . The verse serves as a memorial to the merits of the People – the unsung heroes who contributed blood and sweat to make the Country:
“The people who help contribute the names of Ong Doc, Ong Trang, Ba Den, Ba Diem”.
The scenery of mountains and rivers seems to sparkle through beautiful poems that give us many vibes. Next, the poet comes to a general perception: the soul of the river and the mountain is also the soul tune of the People:
“And everywhere in the fields and hills
There is no shape, no desire, no way of life.
Oh Country, after four thousand years I can see it everywhere
Lives have turned our mountains and rivers.”
The verse structure changes like a polyphony and polyphonic complex, making the poetic emotions repressed, the poetic voice eager to recover.
“The People’s Country” is not only perpetuated on the “extensive” dimension of history, spreading out over the “vast” width of geographical space, but also at the depth of the soul, at the height of the mind. even race. A people who love to sing, their life blends in folk songs. A people of gratitude in the lifestyle “Knowing how precious you are to hold gold in your days of travel”; know how to live faithfully in love, “Parents love each other with salt and spicy ginger”, know full loyalty:
“Every year, where to eat and where to work?
They also know how to bow their heads to remember the anniversary of the ancestors’ death.”
“On the tenth day of the third month” on the anniversary of Hung King’s death anniversary, his children and grandchildren gather from all over the world to Phong Chau, a piece of incense emitting smoke, a gesture of “bowing” respectfully and gratefully to the ancestors. Returning to the roots is a very beautiful feature of the Vietnamese soul.
On every historical journey of thousands of years, our people “class people” go forward with their heads held high, brave and proud, resilient and indomitable to protect the Country and maintain Vietnam’s fortune:
“Know how to plant bamboo and wait for the day to become a stick,
Go for revenge without lasting.”
At the end of the poem, the song resounds on the rivers of the homeland. Rivers of “hundred colors”, and “hundred shapes” rolling down the stream… are the images of the beloved Country. The singing of people “rowing boats, pulling boats over the waterfall” is the rhythm of the working, optimistic and loving life of our people on the way to tomorrow…
The sweet and resonant poetic voice gives us the confidence of love and pride about the longevity of the beloved and beloved Country:
“Oh where do rivers get their water
And when I come back to my country, I start singing
People come to sing while rowing boats, pulling boats across the falls
evoking hundreds of colors on hundreds of river shapes.
The poem “Country” by Nguyen Khoa Diem is also “self-singing lyrics”. He sings about our love, sings about the People, about the mountains and rivers of the Country. He sang about the past “long time, immense space”. He sings about a tomorrow with many “dreams”. It was the People – who made the country that gave him that sacred belief:
“Tomorrow my child will grow up
I will carry the Country far away,
To the days of dreaming.”
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The thought “Country of the People” through this poem has dominated the look, feel and way of thinking of young poet Nguyen Khoa Diem during the years of the fierce war against the US. This thought has been expressed by a poetic soul imbued with folk colors, it has enriched the concept of Country in modern Vietnamese poetry.
The scenery of mountains and rivers is associated with the soul of the nation and the mettle of the race. The simplicity that exists around us blends with the sacred sublime, showing the eternal beauty of the Country of Vietnamese culture and the longevity of the nation.
Although the poem is still scattered, it has beautiful ideas, inspiration and unique poetic language. It has aroused patriotism, national pride, responsibility and civic aspirations for the Country in each of us:
“My dear, the country is my blood and bones
Must know how to stick and share
Must know how to be proud of the country’s shape
Make the Country forever”.
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