Analyzing the Poem 'Across the River Duong' by Hoang Cam

Assignment: Analyze the poem 'Across the River Duong' (Hoang Cam).

Analyzing the poem 'Across the River Duong' (Hoang Cam)

Written Work

Homeland - two sacred words that everyone who goes far away wants to return to. Homeland has become our flesh and blood, the image immortalized in the poetry of countless artists. With profound love for the homeland, poet Hoang Cam expressed his sorrow upon hearing the news of French invasion in Northern Vietnam through the poem 'Across the River Duong'.

The poem was composed in 1948, during the fierce resistance against the French colonialists. While working in the Northern battlefield, Hoang Cam received news of his homeland being occupied by the enemy. That very night, he wrote continuously with feelings of pain and resentment towards the invaders. The Duong River flows through Bac Ninh province. The poet's homeland is in Thuan Thanh district, south of the Duong River. Hence, he titled the poem 'Across the River Duong'.

The poem begins with the prosperous, bustling image of Kinh Bac homeland before being invaded by the enemy:

'Oh dear! Why be sad
I'll take you to the Duong River
Where once the sand was smooth
The Duong River flows
A sparkling stream
Lying slanted in the midst of the resistance period
Green sugarcane fields, strawberry banks
Corn and potato fields'

The call 'Oh dear' and the way of addressing 'you' - 'me' is gentle and affectionate. The pronoun 'you' suggests various interpretations to the readers. It could be someone close to the author. It could also be the author addressing oneself or a call to all patriotic people, those suffering under the oppression of invading forces. The first verse serves as both a consolation and an expression of the author's heart.

The Duong River appears beautifully simple with its stretches of 'smooth white sand', full of silt. The words 'sparkling', 'green', 'lush' express a serene, peaceful beauty of the Kinh Bac region. There, the Duong River lies 'slanted', with sugarcane fields, strawberry banks, cornfields, potato fields, abundant. These are prominent features of Vietnamese rural life. What village doesn't have sugarcane fields, strawberry banks, cornfields, and potato plots? With just a few strokes, Hoang Cam helps us realize the warmth and abundance of life for the people here. But those things belong to the past. The phrase 'once upon a time' evokes fairy tales, nostalgia for a bygone era.

The beloved river not only carries a dazzling, gentle beauty but also bears witness to history. The Duong River is personified as 'lying slanted'. This is a modest posture. Perhaps this river has witnessed and experienced the ups and downs of national history, hence it's now more solemn? The Duong River becomes animate, with a sinuous shape. The river is not in a still state but 'flows', with beautiful, glittering beauty.

When the French invaders came to occupy our country, all that was beautiful retreated into the past, leaving behind a sky full of longing, regret for the peaceful, tranquil homeland:

'Standing on this side of the river, how nostalgic
How heartbreaking, like dropping hands'

It's not just physical pain, but also spiritual anguish. The homeland being trampled upon caused the author's heart to ache. Only someone deeply attached to their homeland can truly understand that pain. The sugarcane fields, strawberry banks exist only in memories, in the nostalgia of Hoang Cam as he stands on this side of the river looking back at his homeland. The gentle comparisons and phrases like 'how nostalgic', 'how heartbreaking' resonate like a lament, depicting the deep loss. The homeland is like a part of the human body, losing it, how can one not feel sorrow, pain?

The more one remembers and regrets Kinh Bac, the clearer that piece of land appears in the poet's memory:

'Across the Duong River
Our homeland with fragrant rice fields
Dong Ho paintings of chickens and pigs, vivid lines
Ethnic colors shine on the paper'

Dong Ho paintings are a type of folk art painted on 'giay diep' paper, also known as 'wind paper'. They depict the traditional culture of the country. The content of these paintings often reflects the customs of rural villages or portrays people, animals, or scenes like mouse weddings. The vibrant colors in the paintings make them lively, imbued with spirit. The 'ethnic colors' in Dong Ho paintings represent the soul, the essence of the Vietnamese people. That homeland still has the strong fragrance of abundant rice fields.

But war has taken everything away:

'Our homeland from dreadful days
Enemies bring torrents of devastating fire
Our fields dry
Our houses burn
Dogs howl in packs
Long tongues lapping blood
Desolation at the dark alley's end
Mother and child pigs in life and death
Parting in a hundred directions
A mouse wedding once lively and bustling
Now scattered, where to?'

The phrase 'torrents of devastating fire' not only describes the enemy's raging flames but also signifies the vehement resentment, boiling within every patriotic soul. The foreign invaders have burned down all the cozy homes, leaving everything in ruins, torn apart. The images of 'mouse weddings, pig herds' are all typical features of Dong Ho paintings, depicting the simple, peaceful life of the people, showcasing the beauty of Vietnamese culture... now destroyed by the ravages of invasion.

The beauty of the people is also depicted by the poet through an unyielding longing:

'The ladies with betel-stained lips
The old folks with wispy white hair
The children in brown pants'

The lives of the people here are quite abundant materially. Alongside, their spiritual life is also rich with customs like teeth staining, betel chewing,... These things have formed the distinctiveness of the Kinh Bac people. The Kinh Bac women are incredibly charming:

'Who returns to the other side of the Duong River
Do you remember each lotus face
The women with betel-stained teeth
Smiling like autumn sun'

The 'lotus faces' are lovely, elegant, their smiles like gentle autumn sunrays spreading an enduring impression in the reader's heart. The poet's associations make the verse soft, graceful. The beauty of the people merges with the beauty of nature to create a harmonious, captivating allure.

At the same time, the poet also depicts the simplicity, the resilience, of the mothers:

'Elderly mothers with shoulder poles of peddling goods
A few dried betel nuts
Some bottles of rouge
Several sheets of damp morning dew paper'

Every day, mothers have to toil early morning till night, working hard, sacrificing a lot for their families. What do mothers have in their burden? Just 'a few dried betel nuts', 'some bottles of rouge', 'several sheets of damp paper'. Yet, the 'bandits with green eyes' also plunder, beat, causing 'bloodstains in the winter evening', disrupting the peaceful marketplace. Verbs like 'trample', 'strike', 'gouge', 'ravage' describe the brutal, savage actions of the enemy. They have inflicted so much pain on our homeland, our people. War is truly fierce, war has turned the homeland into desolation, emptiness:

'The leaves rustle in front of the tent
A few bloodstains in the winter evening'

The rhythm of the verses is slow, the sorrow permeates every scene. A few scattered leaves, sparse, along with the red of blood, slowly fade away, fading away into the desolate winter. What could be more heartbreaking? Blood and tears seem to blend together to voice the accusation of unjust war, accusing the inhuman invading forces. War has become a nightmare for innocent, naive children. Even in dreams, children 'tremble' at the 'sounds of gunfire like thunder', because the enemy's shadow shows no mercy to anyone, not even to the young. Their atrocities have scarred the homeland, but the more it's trampled, the more determined our people are to fight without faltering:

'This land has recorded the sins,
We will not let go of our resentment'

'The troops by the river have returned' along with the people rising up against the enemy, bringing peace to the homeland, erasing all the 'hours of agony' that the people had to endure. Both our soldiers and people have united to cleanse the homeland of the enemy's shadow:

'And our fields are even more abundant
With so much beautiful spring sunshine
The wind carries the song closer
Workers fight enemies, militia till the land'

The land of Kinh Bac will return to its richness, its peace as it once was, and the uprising of our troops has made:

'The enemy camp begins to tremble in the mist
Knives gleam in the market
Poles flicker at the edge of the village
Ripe rice golden as the enemy loses its soul
Their food tastes bad
They sleep uneasily
They stand unsteadily
You guys go crazy
Spinning around like tossed into the fire'

Different lengths of verses make the poetic rhythm also become intense, hurriedly expressing the heroic fighting spirit of the homeland of Kinh Bac. Faced with that situation, the enemy 'loses its soul', 'goes crazy'. They could not imagine that such small people would bring such extraordinary strength.

The last verses of the poem expressed a fervent desire for a peaceful, prosperous life:

'When will we return to the other side of the Duong River
I'll find you again
You in your charming dress
You tying the pink silk
You strolling along the riverbank
Laughing, mesmerized by the green spring light'.

The image of the girl appearing in her charming dress, tying the pink silk, is truly beautiful. The Kinh Bac girl is charming, attractive in the 'riverbank festival'. The fast-paced poetic rhythm reveals the urgency, the longing for the day of peace so that the author can see that pure, fresh beauty.