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Assignment: Analyze the folk poem: 'Who does the handkerchief remember...Worries for an unsettled side...'
2 exemplary essays Analyzing the folk poem: 'Who does the handkerchief remember...Worries for an unsettled side...'
Exemplary Sample 1: Analyzing the folk poem: 'Who does the handkerchief remember...Worries for an unsettled side...'
'Who does the handkerchief remember,
The handkerchief falls to the ground.
Who does the handkerchief remember,
The cloth draped over the shoulders.
Who does the handkerchief remember,
The handkerchief wipes away tears.
The lamp remembers someone,
But the lamp remains unextinguished.
Eyes yearning for someone,
Restless sleepless eyes.
Last night, burdened with worries,
Anxious for an unrest on one side...'
The song is part of the folk poetry system on the theme of longing, a chord in the love folk poetry of ordinary Vietnamese people. The song depicts the longing and affection of a young girl. Intense longing, accompanied by restlessness, turmoil deep inside without easy expression. She questions the scarf, questions the lamp, questions even her own eyes. Unanswered questions only tighten the grip of longing, eventually bursting out in anxiety for happiness:
Last night, burdened with worries,
Anxious for an unrest on one side.
The scarf is the first and most questioned, up to 6 lines:
The scarf remembers whom,
The scarf falls to the ground.
The scarf remembers whom,
The scarf pressed against the shoulder.
The scarf remembers someone,
The scarf wipes away tears.
The scarf, whether worn on the head or as a handkerchief, is often a token of affection, a memento evoking memories of a lover (Sending scarves, sending shirts, sending messages - Sending off distant lovers). The six lines are structured in a flowing manner, echoing 'scarf' six times at the beginning of each line and echoing 'scarf remembers whom' three times like an endless refrain, portraying endless, poignant longing. It seems that with each inquiry, the longing intensifies. The scarf, in itself, doesn't know how to 'remember' or 'fall,' 'press against,' or 'wipe away tears,' but the evocative imagery stirs the emotions of those who bring forth images of individuals with tangled feelings of longing and anxiety. Longing to the point of distraction, the longing spreads in various directions of space 'the scarf falls to the ground' then 'the scarf pressed against. Shoulder,' finally culminating in silent tears 'the scarf wipes away tears.'
The longing in the six lines spreads into space, extending through the following four lines throughout time. The longing during the day extends into the night:
The lamp remembers someone,
And the lamp doesn't turn off.
Still the refrain of 'old longing,' but the longing has shifted from 'scarf' to 'lamp.' The image of the lamp evokes the late night, with dimly lit scenes, and could that flickering flame be the image of burning longing in the girl's heart? The lamp refuses to go out, the longing remains intense. Like the scarf, the lamp has helped the girl reveal her heart.
But no matter how evocative they are, the scarf and the lamp are merely indirect expressions through symbolism, personification. The girl's heart must burst out in direct speech:
Eyes remember someone,
Restless eyes in sleepless nights.
Longing so intense that sleep evades, restless nights are a familiar expression in folk verses:
Lying awake at night, the bed seems distant.
Waiting eagerly for the morning to meet him on the street.
However, it's the same sentiment, but in this ballad, the image of the eyes holds much deeper sensuality. 'Restless eyes in sleepless nights' creates a beautiful symmetry with the 'unending lamp' above, evoking a very real scene: the girl alone in the dark night facing the unyielding lamp while yearning for her beloved. Because of 'restless eyes,' there's 'unending light.' Speaking of the lamp is simply speaking of the beloved. The light shines into the eyes, revealing the lingering, unextinguished longing.
Ten verses, five questions without answers. The refrain 'longing for whom' comes and goes like a whirlpool into an agonizing, poignant longing. Five instances of 'longing' and five of 'whom' appear. The term 'whom' itself implies indirection, evoking a deep, limitless, and undefined longing. 'Whom' is indefinite, but the listener fully understands who 'whom' refers to. Questions without answers, yet the desire for answers lies in that agonizing, poignant tone. No need for explicit expression, yet the longing for the beloved has been subtly, sensually, and intensely revealed.
The rhyme scheme of this ballad is also remarkably unique:
Who's remembered with this kerchief,
The kerchief falls to the ground.
Who's remembered with this kerchief,
The kerchief draped over the shoulder.
Who's remembered with this kerchief,
The kerchief wipes away tears.
Who's remembered with this lantern,
But the light doesn't turn off.
Eyes remember someone,
Restless eyes can't sleep.
The foot and back rhymes intertwine, alternating between even and odd rhymes, all creating a continuous, melodious rhythm that compresses and extends the girl's longing into infinite depths across both space and time. It seemed like that longing would never end... But a song must have a conclusion. When the girl stops asking, the longing bursts forth into anxiety.
Last night, I was troubled by worries,
Anxious for an unease in one side...
From the rhythmic verse of four words, continuous and fast-paced, the song transitions to hexameter verse, gentler yet more stirring, revealing the girl's anxiety amidst the joy of couplehood. It's not by chance that the word 'anxious' is mentioned twice. Remembering and worrying for her fate 'unease in one side', the girl's mood carries a universal meaning for women in ancient times: loving passionately yet always fearing for the precariousness of happiness.
The song is quite representative of folk poetry with its repetition in expressing emotions, the use of symbolic images, personification to enhance the vitality of the imagery, flexible rhyme scheme, traditional structure combining four-word verses with the final hexameter couplet... Through the longing and anxiety depicted in the song, we recognize the voice of love and the yearning for love of ordinary people in the past.
In the Vietnamese Literature curriculum for 10th grade, the lesson on Tam Cam is an important topic that students need to pay attention to. Prepare for the Tam Cam lesson comprehensively.
In addition to the above content, students can further explore the section on preparing for the expressive essay topic and how to write an expressive essay to prepare for the content of the Expressive Essay Writing in the 10th-grade Vietnamese Literature textbook.
Sample 2: Analyze the following folk poem: 'Khăn thương nhớ ai...Lo vì một nỗi không yên một bề...'
One can imagine: a sentimental character immersed in longing and sorrowful melancholy. Every gesture suddenly becomes numb. The handkerchief hangs listlessly on the shoulder, inadvertently falling to the ground. The sentimental character stoops to pick it up and suddenly sees the handkerchief as if seeing their own inner world.
Whose memory does the handkerchief mourn?
The handkerchief falls to the ground.
Whose memory does the handkerchief mourn?
The handkerchief is wrung over the shoulder.
Whose memory does the handkerchief mourn?
The handkerchief wipes away tears.
Whose memory does the light mourn?
Yet the light does not go out.
Whose eyes remember?
Restless eyes in sleep.
Last night, worries abound.
An unease reigns...
A folk song portrays a girl's longing for her lover. It's not just longing, but also worry and restlessness. Indeed, it's these worries and restlessness that add depth to the longing, making it capable of awakening the entire human psyche.
Folk songs often speak directly about longing for a lover, using various metaphors. In this folk song, the expression of longing is unique. Assuming the role of an innocent reader, one might see that the sentimental character focuses entirely on the scarf, the lamp, and the eyes, indicating an awareness that they are remembering someone. 'Whose scarf do you remember?', 'Whose lamp do you remember?', 'Whose eyes do you remember?' - with these repeated questions directed at these 'companions' (particularly the scarf, which is mentioned three times), it seems that the sentimental character has no other concern than comforting and consoling the scarf, the lamp, the eyes. However, we realize an absurdity: besides the scarf and the lamp being inanimate objects incapable of remembering, even the eyes (of a person) are not independent beings capable of longing. Thus, the sentimental character is living in a world of illusion, conversing with imaginary characters. This phenomenon only occurs when a person's emotions overflow and they are 'imprisoned' by those emotions. Emotions spill over into the external world, casting their shadow over everything, making every object suddenly come to life and able to become conversational objects. However, conversing with a scarf, with a lamp, with eyes, is only conversing with one's own heart. In other words, conversing with whom, about what, in this case, is only a self-disclosure.
One can imagine: the sentimental character is immersed in the sadness of longing. Every gesture becomes dull and listless. The scarf casually wrung over the shoulder unintentionally falls to the ground. The sentimental character stoops to pick it up and suddenly sees the scarf as if seeing their own inner world. Scarf, why did you fall to the ground? Are you missing someone? These tearful questions are posed in the dreamlike state of the sentimental character. They do not reflect anything other than the inner world of the questioner. Saying that the scarf and the lamp are personified is correct. But it may be more accurate to say that they are images of the sentimental character reflected through a special mirror. Their actions do not have independent meaning but are reflections of the varied and complex gestures and psychological developments of the folk song author. Folk songs are often said to have a rustic, simple beauty. In this case, the simplicity and rusticity are still present (especially through familiar images and transparent language without ornamentation), but this does not mean that the magical transformation does not leave a deep mark.
Although delving into the depths of the heart, the folk song still maintains the coherence of its structure. The images of the scarf, the lamp, the eyes do not appear randomly. The scarf wrung on the shoulder, the scarf used to wipe tears, the lamp lit for long nights, the tearful eyes that refuse to sleep - these are all specific images often borrowed by poetic works (including folk songs) to express longing and restlessness. They are interconnected to express a unified theme. The relationship between the scarf and the eyes is clearly explained by the folk song. What about the lamp? It can also be understood as another vigilant eye amidst the night's endless darkness. Isn't the lamp always our companion whenever we have such worries? Another noteworthy point is the sequence of appearance of the images. The scarf appears first, followed by the lamp and finally the eyes. There is a shift from distant to near of the images, from external objects to the author's own person. The longing is more and more revealed - so intense that it resonates through the sentimental character's entire world and, in terms of aesthetic effectiveness, it also transforms the poetic rhythm. The first six lines are devoted to confiding in the scarf. They have a steady, monotonous rhythm, resonant and melancholic. The last four lines are paired, showing 'concern' for both the lamp and the eyes. The rhythm is more urgent, in a hurried enumeration style. The sentimental character has touched the depths of their emotions and restlessness. The dreamlike state gradually dissipates, returning the person to the control of reason. It's a phase of emotion, indeed, but it's now passed.
The last two lines of the folk song are a quatrain filled with sentiments. The poetic boat, after being engulfed in the tumultuous longing, emerges with a serene contemplative space. However, it cannot be said that the sentimental character - the one steering it - has found peace. Other waves of worries are looming... Overall, the change in poetic form here is significant. On one hand, it signals a subtle shift in the emotional flow of the sentimental character, on the other hand, it ensures the regulatory function of the narrator, the reader, to prevent the folk song from falling into verbosity, causing unnecessary tension. The direct expression of emotions in the obscure, tangled form of the sentiment has been replaced by a general statement about the nature of the sentiment. The sentimental character understands that they have worried, and also knows the cause of that worry. Loving each other deeply, but how hard it is to come together, to marry each other. So many things to worry about, so many things that can hinder happiness. The girl said 'Worrying about an unease from one side' - just one side but filled with worries, because that side does not belong to the girl, but belongs to a side she cannot control, cannot dominate.
The folk song 'Whose Scarf Do You Remember...' we just 'read' could be considered one of the best in the treasury of folk songs.
Details of the content of the Composing the Tam Dai Con Ga section for good preparation for the Tam Dai Con Ga piece.
In addition, Write a short persuasive text presenting thoughts on forgiveness is an important lesson in the Grade 10 Literature program that students need to pay special attention to.
In addition to the material already covered, students should prepare for the upcoming lesson on Interpreting Nguyễn Du's Poem 'Độc Tiểu Thanh kí' to grasp their Grade 10 Literature knowledge thoroughly.
