Analyzing the folk poem 'Sympathizing with the fate of the silk-worm'

Prompt: Analyzing the folk poem 'Sympathizing with the fate of the silk-worm'

Analyzing the folk poem 'Sympathizing with the plight of the silk-worm'
 

I. Outline for Analyzing the folk poem 'Sympathizing with the plight of the silk-worm'

1. Introduction

- Introducing the treasury of Vietnamese folk verses: comprising numerous verses written with gentle melodies, easy to understand, and easy to memorize.
- Introducing the folk poem: 'Sympathizing with the plight of the silk-worm' is such a folk poem nestled within the treasury of Vietnamese folk verses
 

2. Main Body

* General Overview
- The folk poem consists of eight six-eight verses.
- It employs familiar imagery such as 'ants,' 'silkworms,' 'cranes,' and 'toads' → portraying the impoverished and harsh lives of people at the bottom of society.

* Analysis
- Silkworm imagery:
+ Silkworms are born to produce silk, giving birth to shiny threads, and their lives end when they complete their work.
+ The laboring people in ancient society were the same: they had to toil hard, exhausted by their labor.

- Ant imagery:
+ Ants are tiny creatures, and their food is also scarce, yet they always rush hurriedly to seek food.
+ Humans are similar: their whole lives are spent working, earning a living, 'selling their face to the land, selling their back to the sky,' only to ultimately serve others - those who only know how to 'sit coolly and eat from golden bowls.'

- Crane imagery:
+ The slender crane, tirelessly, endlessly flies across the vast sky, never knowing when to stop, having no stopping point.
+ The laboring people also spend their entire lives toiling, tirelessly plowing and hoeing, but their whole lives are lived in despair with a future that is dim, obscure, not knowing tomorrow.

- Toad imagery:
+ The emaciated toad with its mournful croak, pitifully, but no one hears, no one understands.
+ The laboring people are indeed those lowly individuals, they live at the bottom of society, their words carry no weight, and there is no one to listen
→ Although these are different images, they all ultimately depict the hardships of human life.

3. Conclusion

Reaffirmation of the value of the folk poem.

II. Sample Essay Analyzing the folk poem 'Sympathizing with the fate of the silk-worm'

Although they have been around for a long time, with gentle melodies, familiar phrases, easy to remember, and easy to memorize, Vietnamese folk verses are still passed down to this day. 'Sympathizing with the fate of the silk-worm' is such a folk poem.

The folk poem consists of eight six-eight verses. Folk authors have borrowed familiar imagery such as 'ants,' 'silkworms,' 'cranes,' and 'toads' to talk about the impoverished and harsh lives of people at the bottom of society.

The folk poem begins with the familiar writing style of sympathetic folk verses - 'Sympathizing':

The four verses following the folk song are equally pitiful with the imagery of 'the heron' and 'the cuckoo':

'Pity the heron aloft in the clouds
Weary wings, knowing not when to rest
Pity the lone cuckoo in the sky
Though it cries blood, who hears its jest?'

The image of the frail heron wings, tirelessly and persistently flying across the vast, endless sky, without knowing when to halt, without a pause. They fly tirelessly and patiently, evoking the imagery of people whose entire lives are spent enduring, persevering. Their lives are toil-filled, relentlessly tilling the earth, yet their existence is shrouded in hopelessness with an obscure, uncertain future, not knowing what tomorrow may bring.

Closing the folk song is the image of the emaciated plowman and the poignant, mournful cry, but who hears, who understands? Their voices blend into the void, akin to the suffering of individuals overshadowed by apathy, cruelty. In the old society, the working people are akin to diminutive, voiceless beings, dwelling at the bottom rung of society. Their words carry no weight, and there is no one to listen, thus they must eke out a meager existence, living from one day to the next, this life to the next.

Four different images, yet all share a common theme of depicting human suffering. Only then do we truly understand the plight of the impoverished laborers, how much hardship and bitterness they must endure to utter such words of lamentation and sorrow.

Pity the fate of the silkworm, a familiar folk song in the treasury of Vietnamese folk songs, depicting the humble, unfortunate fate of individuals in the old feudal society. Besides, there are many other common folk songs that students can explore further in terms of content such as: Analysis of the folk song: There are green clouds in the sky..., Analysis of the folk song: My body is like a thorny yam..., Analysis of the folk song: My body is like a piece of peach silk, fluttering in the market, who knows whose hands it will fall into, Analysis of the folk song: Thank heavens for the rain and sun...