Analyze the poem Beloved Wife to highlight the author's heartfelt expressions of life's struggles

Prompt: Analyze the poem Beloved Wife to highlight the author's heartfelt expressions of life's struggles

Sample essay Analyzing the poem Beloved Wife to highlight the author's heartfelt expressions of life's struggles

Tip: Effective methods for analyzing poetry passages for high scores

Tú Xuong has numerous poems and odes dedicated to his wife. Mrs. Tu, originally from a noble lineage, married a merchant, a daughter-in-law skilled in business, beloved and respected by relatives and neighbors:

'At the river's edge, competing in trade day and night
Among the kin, beyond the village, adeptly trading goods.'

Thanks to this, Mr. Tu was able to live a lavish life: 'Money entrusted to the capable wife - The horses and carriages never see a moment of rest'.

'Beloved Wife' stands out as the most touching poem among Tú Xương's romantic verses. It is both a confessional and societal poem, filled with Mr. Tu's deep affection for his gentle wife. The initial six lines depict Mrs. Tu's image in family and life: a true portrayal of a modest wife, a generous and sacrificing mother.

Two lines in the introductory section portray Mrs. Tu as a very responsible and hardworking wife. If Nguyen Khuyen's wife is a woman 'good at this and that, tightens her waist, rolls up her skirt, holds a male leg, because I help out with everything' (Nguyen Khuyen's couplet), then Mrs. Tu is a woman:

'Year-round trading at the riverbank
Raising five children with one husband'.

'Year-round trading' depicts the beginning of a dark business, from one day to the next, from one month to the next... without a day off. Mrs. Tu 'Trading at the riverbank', where the piece of land protrudes, surrounded by water; where business is the uneven terrain. The phrase 'riverbank' suggests a life of rain and shine, a tough life, struggling to make a living, only then 'Raising five children with one husband'. The family burden weighs heavily on the shoulders of the mother, the wife. Usually, people count the vegetables, the fish, count the money,... but who 'counts' children, 'counts' husbands (!). The lines subtly contain the bitter feelings about a family facing many difficulties: many children, a husband who is 'living off his wife'. It can be said that, in the first two lines, Tú Xương faithfully records the modest, responsible wife he knows.

The section further emphasizes Mrs. Tu's portrait, depicting her daily toil like a 'stork' in the 'desolate stretches', immersed in business activities like a 'corpse-eating bird' in the 'emptiness'. The poetic language intensifies the hardships of the wife. The words are like strokes, colors connecting, supporting, and amplifying: from 'plunging' to 'stork', then to 'in the desolate stretches'. The hardships of earning a living at the 'riverbank' seem impossible to fully express! The image of the 'stork', 'waterbird' in folk rhymes: ''The stork plunges along the riverbank...', 'The stork greets the rain...', 'The waterbird, the stork, the wading bird...' is recreated in Tú Xương's poetry through the image of the 'stork' stealthily, bringing to the reader many touching associations about Mrs. Tú, as well as the difficult, arduous fate of Vietnamese women in the old society:

'Plunging like a stork in the desolate stretches,
Bending and lifting on the water during the winter ferry rides'.

'Bending and lifting' is a figurative term referring to incessant calls, continuous bargaining; depicting the scene of buying and selling, arguing on the 'water surface' during the 'winter ferry rides'. A life of 'plunging', a living in business 'bending and lifting'. The artistic contrast vividly highlights the scene of earning a living in great hardship. The rice bowl, the clothes that Mrs. Tú earned to 'Raise five children with one husband' had to be earned through 'plunging' in rain and shine, through grappling with 'bending and lifting', through paying the price of sweat and tears in difficult times!

Next are two assertions, Tú Xương creatively employs two folk proverbs: ''one fate, two debts' and 'five suns, ten rains', symmetrically harmonious, with deep folk colors in perception and expressive language:

'One fate, two debts, what a fate,
Five suns, ten rains, dare to manage work.'

'Fate'' is destiny, 'debts' are life's debts that Mrs. Tu must endure with resignation. 'Sun', 'rain' symbolize all hardships. The numbers in the poem increase: 'one... two... five... ten...' highlighting Mrs. Tu's silent sacrifices, a woman who endures hardship for the happiness of her husband, children, and family. 'What a fate'... 'dare to manage work'... the poetic tone is full of compassion.

In summary, with gratitude and admiration, Tú Xương vividly portrays the deeply touching image of Mrs. Tú, his virtuous wife: responsible, modest, compassionate, hardworking, silently sacrificing for family happiness. Tú Xương demonstrates exquisite literary techniques in language usage and imagery. Colloquial words, numerical terms, poetic techniques, inversion, creative use of proverbs and the image of the 'stork'... create an impressive and appealing literary work.

In the concluding two lines, Tú Xương uses vulgar language, cursing at the 'riverbank', during the 'winter ferry rides', naturally and modestly incorporating it into poetry. He reproaches himself:

'Parents live for wealth all their life,
Having a neglectful husband is akin to none!'

Blaming oneself for 'living off the wife' is like 'living for wealth'. The role of a husband, a father is of no help, worthless, even 'neglectful' towards wife and children. How bitter is this self-reproach! We know, Tú Xương was talented in literature, but his career was lacking, his exams fatefully rigged. Living in a society of 'our miseries, their misfortunes', in a time when 'even the coffin maker and gravedigger cower', hence the poet blames himself, also blaming the dark and money-driven life. He couldn't adapt to the times to elevate himself through feasting at night and milking cows at dawn.

The concluding lines are a heartfelt lamentation and a portrayal of the sorrowful realities, the voice of an intellectual rich in character, heavy with life's sentiments, prioritizing wife and children in impoverished circumstances. Tú Xương's love for his wife is also a love for himself. It's the painful realization of the poet when life's scenes change!

The poem 'Thương vợ' is written in the form of 'thất ngôn bát cú' poetry. The language is as simple as everyday speech in the 'riverside' of small traders, nearly a century ago. The selectively artistic details are both individualized (Mrs. Tú with 'five children, one husband') and deeply insightful (women of the past). The poetic imagery is profound, evoking emotions: love for the wife, self-pity, grief over circumstances, and life's pain. 'Thương vợ' is an outstanding love poem by Tú Xương depicting women, the women of yore with all their cherished emotions. The image of Mrs. Tú mentioned in the poem is very close to the mother, the sister in every Vietnamese family.

Tú Xương is a brilliant satirical poet in Vietnamese literature. His name is immortalized with Non Côi, Vị River. Born in discordant times amidst a society in disarray, when Chinese studies declined, Tú Xương still maintained the noble character of a scholar, living 'luxuriously' like no other, thanks to his virtuous wife. Tú Xương may not have stone tablets of gold, but he engraved Mrs. Tú's name on the golden tablet:

'A green lantern, a few golden books,
Four children as soldiers, father as an official.
(...) The official at home, when asked about living off the wife,
Recalled the past hundred years.'

(The official at home)

Tú Xương had the poem 'A Wife's Dedication to Her Husband', and now he adds 'Love for the Wife', these are poems both skillful and heartfelt. Folk songs have spoken of the resilient wife 'serving salt and ginger', will Tú Xương ever forget Mrs. Tú's sacrifice of 'raising five children with one husband'?