Prepare the lesson 'Across the Đuống River' by Hoàng Cầm

Additional Reading: Across the Đuống River (by Hoàng Cầm)

Hoàng Cầm, the poet of the Kinh Bắc homeland. He was born in 1922. He speaks about the Motherland and Fatherland:

That 'white water' river is the beloved Đuống river. Hoàng Cầm is one of the most talented contemporary poets. His soul has wandered with romantic love affairs like searching for 'withered butterfly leaves' on some violet autumn evening. His life has tasted many sorrows. He wept for himself... then wept for his 'fragile fate' daughter:

From 1937 when he wrote 'Hate at Nam Quan' until 1995 when 'Golden Stones' was published, Hoàng Cầm spent nearly 60 years writing poetry. 'Across the Đuống River', 'Withered Butterfly Leaves', 'Rain in Thuận Thành', the poetic drama 'Trương Chi',... are the verses, the songs of love, of remembrance for life.
Hoàng Cầm wrote the poem 'Across the Đuống River' one night in April 1948 in the Viet Bac battlefield. Stirred by news of his homeland being invaded and ravaged, under the kerosene lamp, amidst the echoes of gunfire, he wrote tirelessly until the cock crowed at dawn to complete the poem. 'Across the Đuống River' is one of the finest poems on the theme of the homeland in the poetry of resistance against the French; this masterpiece has brought fame to the poet Hoàng Cầm. The poem is filled with the love for the homeland, the soul of the homeland drifting abundantly. Longing, pride for the Motherland, the land of the Father, sorrow, anger, regret... the emotions dominate this poem. With 134 deep, earnest, restless verses intertwined together, the poem continues to resonate in the minds of readers. Hoàng Cầm once confided about 'Across the Đuống River': 'The flavor of folk songs, the essence of tenderness, the illusion of those Quan họ verses have permeated my soul since childhood'. It is that flavor, that tenderness, that illusion that has imbued the romantic melody of this homeland song.
The poem begins with a vague, distant call rising from thoughts, in reminiscence, with much nostalgia, stirring emotions:

The childhood river of 'white flat sand' is the root of our sorrow, our longing, from you and me, from the past, from years gone by. You are the poet's counterpart, or 'shared lover' once 'cherished, remembered, sorrowed for' by someone... You arrive to empathize, to confide... and here you are in the 'festival by the riverbank': 'You in crimson silk – You with rosy sashes – You at the riverside festival – Laughing amidst the green spring light.' 'You' arrive just in time for 'me' to express, to evoke poetry. That illusory tenderness in Hoàng Cầm's poetry is what we feel.
Alongside you comes the beloved image of the Đuống River. The childhood river from the nostalgic phrase 'Where the white sand used to lie flat' flows through history, through time and human hearts, appearing in fond memories, with color, with familiar figures:

The phrase 'flows...' evokes a calmness, a feeling of 'gentle flowing water...' 'A sparkling stream' because of the white sand, because the river reflects the pink dawn, carries the moon and stars on beautiful autumn nights. It's a dreamy river. The Đuống River in the present doesn't wind like the 'serpentine river of our village' (Folk song) but rather 'Lying askew amidst the war of resistance.' A striking line that stirs emotions, reading it brings such delight, such flavor. It seems as if the author wrote with a surreal pen? It seems as if the verse was crafted with modern cinematic techniques? It's a unique poetic creation by the talented poet Hoàng Cầm.
The Đuống River is the river of childhood, the river of nostalgia. The 'green green' of the sugarcane fields, the 'pale green' of the corn and sweet potato fields are the green of childhood, the image of the homeland. A vibrant painting of the homeland, full of life... Longing for the homeland where we bury our umbilical cords, the estranged child 'stands on this side of the river' looking towards 'the other side of the Đuống River', from the free zone to the controlled zone, where 'our souls soak the earth', the longing, the pain impossible to fully express:

'How memory weeps... how sorrowful it is...' because the homeland is engulfed in blood and fire. The longing, the pain to an extreme, numbing both the soul and body. The line 'How sorrowful it is, like falling hands' vividly depicts the profound pain, both physical and spiritual. At the beginning of the 20th century, Nguyễn Khuyến mourned when he suddenly heard the news of his close friend's passing: 'How quickly you departed – Upon hearing, my legs and arms grew limp.' One side grieves for a friend, the other for the homeland. Both poets borrowed folk expressions to convey a mood, a shattered heart. Only with a deep love for the homeland, a loyal attachment to the Motherland, could Hoàng Cầm feel such poignant longing and sorrow as 'falling hands'.
It can be said that the ten lines in the prelude of the homeland anthem 'Across the Đuống River' provide a rapturous view of 'longing', a deeply felt 'sorrow', an endless remembrance... of the exiled child. The verses are like silent tears, then rising like a choked sob: 'azure... remembered... like falling hands.'

'Across the Đuống River' lies Thuận Thành district, Bac Ninh province, a region rich in culture and heritage spanning thousands of years in the Kinh Bac area. With just two strokes, the poet evokes the fragrance of the homeland. Three words, 'our homeland,' resonate with pride and deep emotion. The fragrant aroma of rice fields, the green hue of ripe paddy fields, the aroma of sticky rice, and rice cakes... on the Tet banquet, on the ancestral altar during memorial days. The fragrant aroma of rice fields has merged with the souls of 'him' and 'her' since time immemorial. Remembering 'our homeland' is remembering the 'fragrant aroma' of sticky rice, remembering Dong Ho paintings with their lively depictions, remembering the 'national colors', remembering the vibrant, beautiful colors 'shining bright on the Do paper', glossy and smooth. The love for the homeland is conveyed, expressed through various tones (fragrant, deep, bright, paper...), through various adjectives that have awakened the fragrance of sticky rice, of Dong Ho paintings: fragrant, lively, bright, paper. Especially, the phrase 'shining bright' has shown the profound affection for the homeland, has illuminated both the poetry and nostalgia, has infused the homeland picture with both vitality and intense love. Just like the Quan họ folk songs, the Dong Ho folk paintings mentioned by the author are cherished, proud, from the theme to the materials, from the ideology to the artistic style, all carry the beauty of simplicity, of the people, lovingly 'shining bright' with the colors of the nation.
But where are they now? – 'Our homeland since the dreadful days – Invaders pulled in, engulfed in raging flames.' 'Dreadful days' since 19 - 12 - 1946, the day of the nationwide resistance, peaceful countryside regions were turned into ashes by the French invaders. 'Peaceful countryside' turned into piles of rubble. 'Fields flowed with blood', 'villages turned into bone-chilling graveyards', ... an immense space drowned in blood and fire, in death. The invaders pulled into our homeland were: 'Wild dogs in packs – Tongues long, licking up blood.' They rampaged, shooting, burning: dry fields, houses ablaze, dark alleys deserted and desolate. Lives were destroyed, an entire homeland devastated, in agony:

The warm, peaceful, and happy dreams of 'our homeland' have been shattered and torn apart by invading forces throughout the ages. From physical pain to mental anguish is immensely horrifying! Using imagery from two Dong Ho village paintings, the pig painting and the rat wedding painting, to vividly depict the heartbreaking scene of separation, devastation over the homeland. The poet stirred the soul of the homeland, the blood-soaked homeland, the tearful sentiment in people's hearts all along. The cultural beauty in people's hearts, in their way of life, in their scenery, has been destroyed by the 'raging flames'. The short verses intertwined with long verses have contributed to intensifying the resentment, the choked emotion contained deep within people's hearts, erupting fiercely.
The poignant nostalgia for the homeland, Hoàng Cầm earnestly calls out: 'Who goes across the Đuống River – Let me send a piece of black cloth... - To send back luck to someone...' – Still just a vague mention of 'Who goes...' 'to whom...', evoking a reverberating nostalgia, vast and deep. The love for the homeland in reminiscence is 'fleeting peaceful dreams', is the longing for old pagodas, ancient towers, reminiscing about summer festivals, missing Mount Thiên Thai, missing Bút Tháp pagoda, missing Lang Tài district, missing the sound of temple bells tolling morning and evening. Remembering the peaceful and happy life, remembering the landmarks, the scenic spots... deeply imprinted, deeply attached to the tender soul of the exiled child:

The sound of temple bells at Dâu temple, Bút Tháp pagoda, Bách Môn pagoda... now only 'echoes' from 'a few hundred years fleeting peaceful dreams' reverberating in people's souls have made the longing, the pain more poignant, evoking the desolation, the decay of the homeland, expressing the lifelong dream of living warm, full lives, happy in peace.
Remembering the scenery, then remembering the people. Overflowing nostalgia, remembering each figure, each face, remembering lips, hair, brown trousers, remembering specifics, remembering much... The word 'those' repeatedly conveys the profound, stirring, and poignant nostalgia:

'Who returns... who remembers' – across the Đuống River, our homeland, yours and mine. Who remembers, only we remember deeply. Remembering 'each lotus-faced figure', remembering warm, cheerful, radiant smiles of beautiful, affectionate, gentle girls. Remembering the weavers, remembering the dyers, ... diligent, hardworking, skillful people, very adorable, worthy of pride. The life and people of the homeland come alive through memories sequentially appearing in haunting, stirring memories:

That longing is both real and surreal, intertwined with the bustling rhythm of everyday life, with the lovely affectionate appearance evoking in us a sky full of nostalgic reverie: 'Who goes to Đồng Tỉnh, Huê Cầu – Đồng Tỉnh sells medicine, Huê Cầu dyes deep – Who goes to Thanh Lâm Market – Buys a dark dotted cloth shirt from me'. Through this, we feel the flavor of the nation, the affectionate sentiment, the illusion that makes up the romantic beauty in Hoàng Cầm's poetry.
After depicting the images of beautiful, affectionate girls... Hoàng Cầm speaks of mothers and their young children with much nostalgia and sorrow. 'Old mothers bent with burdens of street vending' appear amidst the poor market, when 'blue-eyed devils' come to plunder: 'Palm leaves fluttering in front of the tent – A few drops of blood staining the winter evening'. The bamboo grove is 'whispering', the sky is 'cold rain', the road is 'slippery', ... a dark, cold, eerie space... In the sky, the herons flap their wings 'swiftly flying away', ... 'where to...'. On the slippery road, the old mother with silver hair walks hesitantly 'high and low' with so much horror. A haunting, painful, throbbing poetic image:

The children are living in fear amidst hunger and cold. Only a bowl of corn porridge to warm their breath, only knowing to 'hide under the bed to avoid bullets', night after night living in horror amidst the enemy's gunfire: 'Mumbling in delirium – Startled awake'… The image of the mother and child in this verse epitomizes the pain of mothers, children, victims of war. The closing line of the second part is a cry of bitter resentment. Hoàng Cầm expresses hatred for the enemy in a unique, powerful way:

In addition to the contrasting juxtaposition between 'a few hundred years of fleeting peace and tranquility' and 'Our homeland since the terrible days', Hoàng Cầm repeats the lines: 'Where do they go now in ruins… Where do they go now in ruins… Where do they go now…' – those refrains not only evoke the melancholy melody and the countless sorrows, horrors of the pain, mourning in the enemy's flames of war, but also create an endless haunting about the regret of the peaceful and romantic years of the homeland.
The poetic tone changes in the next 49 lines. There is joy in meeting the affection of soldiers when 'the troops by the river have returned'. The image of the homeland mother symbolizes the joy of revival 'burgeoning' after the decay of bamboo groves in a once 'terrible' time:

There's turmoil as 'The enemy camp trembles in the mist'. The vast countryside rises to fight the enemy, bringing green to the fields:

There's joy in 'opening festivities...' and the joy of victory. Short verses, hurried rhythm, expansive. The Đuống River emerges amidst a magnificent sunrise:

The second segment, while containing some poignant verses and evocative imagery, is scattered in poetic language, with the narrative element overshadowing the sentimental aspect. The poem was written in the spring of 1948, six years later (1954), after enduring arduous journeys and immense sacrifices, only then do we witness scenes of 'many enemy bases bustling', and only then does 'birds dance, flowers laugh' in the heart of a child far from home amidst the smoke and fire. Hence, the romantic inspiration when speaking of the homeland's struggle and victory is somewhat superficial and brief.
The third part, with six lines dreaming of 'when will we return to the other side of the Đuống River' during the festival of hills and rivers, in the joy of reunion. Once again, the image of a Kinh Bắc girl emerges in marvelous beauty and tenderness:

After a series of short, four-word verses, the poem concludes with two six-eight couplets of enduring joy resonating within people's hearts.
'Homeland, laden with meaning, deep affection…', has anyone spoken such words? Love for the homeland is one of the deepest, most passionate sentiments of our Vietnamese people. Hoàng Cầm's love for the homeland is one of nostalgia and pride; nostalgic for the scenery, the people, the Đuống River flowing 'Sparkling in a single stream', nostalgic for Thiên Thai mountain, for Bút Tháp pagoda, for the faces of young girls resembling lotus flowers, for the festive spring, for mother, for young children… Nostalgic and proud of a rich and beautiful homeland, with green fields of corn, sweet potatoes, and sugarcane, with Đông Hồ paintings 'Livestock drawn with freshness – The national colors shining on do paper'. Proud of an indomitable homeland standing tall. Trusting in the festival of hills and rivers, and in the joy of reunion. The poem also contains a lot of resentment towards the invading army.
Hoàng Cầm's poetry is rich in melody and captivating rhythm. It resonates with folk songs and folk tunes. The poem is imbued with a love and nostalgia for the homeland. The Đuống River, the girl 'laughing amidst the green spring light'… belong to Hoàng Cầm alone.
But strangely, miraculously, readers near and far for over half a century have found a shadow of their homeland and their own feelings, affection, and nostalgia in the masterpiece poem 'Across the Đuống River'. Great poetry allows us that 'Sympathy of shared sentiments.'

Continue reading the assignments to excel in Grade 12 Literature

- Drafting an Argumentative Essay about Literary Opinion, Grade 12
- Preparing the Lesson on Viet Bac

Viet Bac is a prominent lesson in Week 8 of the Grade 12 Literature curriculum according to the Textbook, Grade 12, students need to Prepare the Lesson on Viet Bac, read the content beforehand, and answer the questions in the Textbook.