Reflections on the Final Eight Lines of The Tale of Kieu at Ngung Bich Tower

Essay Topic: Reflections on the Final Eight Lines of The Tale of Kieu at Ngung Bich Tower

Insights into the Last Eight Verses of The Tale of Kieu at Ngung Bich Pavilion

I. Structured Analysis of the Last Eight Verses of The Tale of Kieu at Ngung Bich Pavilion (Standard)

1. Introduction:

- An overview of the work, the author, the excerpt, and the final eight verses.

2. Body:

a. The First Couplet: 'Sorrow at the sight of the evening sea/ A boat's sails flicker far away'

- Space: the 'sea's gate', vast and boundless.
- Time: 'evening' as darkness slowly engulfs, a time that stirs quiet reflections of sadness.
- Scenery: the 'flickering boat' further emphasizes the loneliness and vastness of the space.
- Artistry: the inversion 'flickering' placed forward, with the repetitive 'far away' evokes the tiny memory of the boat.

b. The Second Couplet: 'Sorrow at the sight of newly fallen water/ Drifting flowers, vaguely wondering where they're bound'.

- The 'drifting flowers' imagery: a metaphor for life's aimless drift, uncertain and unpredictable.
- The phrase 'where to?' evokes feelings of an unclear future, beyond Thuy Kieu's control.

c. The Third Couplet: 'Sorrow at the sight of the melancholy grass/ The sky and earth merge in a hue of green'.

- 'Melancholy': signifies gloom and decay
- 'A hue of green': the sky and earth blend in one color, signifying a lack of human life.
→ The verse reflects Kieu's feelings of ennui, fatigue, and despair.

d. The Fourth Couplet: 'Sorrow as the wind sweeps the surface, turbulent/ The roaring sound of waves surrounds the seat'.

- The 'roaring waves': evoke the tumultuous life storms Kieu faces.
- Illustrates her fear and ominous premonitions about her own future fate.

d. Overall Evaluation of Content and Artistry:

- Content: Reveals Thuy Kieu's feelings of solitude and her ominous premonitions about the future.

- Artistry:
+ The technique of using scenery to express emotions is exceptionally unique.
+ The repetitive phrase 'Sorrow at the sight': a motif of the eight verses, indicating deep melancholy
+ Skillfully uses alliteration to convey Kieu's loneliness.
+ The verse rhythm is flexible, with language rich in imagery.

3. Conclusion:

- Affirms the value of the last eight verses and the excerpt.

II. Sample Essay Reflections on the Last Eight Verses of 'The Tale of Kieu' at Ngưng Bích Tower (Standard)

Nguyen Du, a great poet, was a master in the use of language and artistic techniques to depict scenery, describe people, and especially to portray the inner feelings of characters. One of the most excellent excerpts that describe a character's inner feelings is the segment of Kieu at Ngưng Bích Tower. Through the last eight verses, we can perceive the pain, sorrow, and loneliness of Kieu in the Ngưng Bích Tower and the outstanding artistic talent of the great poet.

The final eight lines of the excerpt from 'Kieu at Ngưng Bích Tower' represent the pinnacle of Nguyen Du's artistry in scene depiction that implies deeper emotions. These paired lines of poetry reveal not just the extreme pain and loneliness Thuy Kieu experiences in her confinement at Ngưng Bích Tower, but also foreshadow a tumultuous and uncertain future.

Each emotional landscape begins with the recurring phrase 'sadly looking.' Repeated four times, this refrain creates a melancholy chorus that unveils the character's inner world, where sorrow layers upon sorrow, filling the soul. The scenery of Ngưng Bích Tower seems to resonate with Thuy Kieu's pain, making every image she sees imbued with profound sadness.

'Sadly looking at the sea's gate at dusk
A boat's sail flickers, far away in the haze'

Thuy Kieu's emotional scene is introduced by the image of dusk's twilight. The sunset paints the entire scene, encompassing both the vast space and time. Through Kieu's eyes, this melancholic dusk seems to deepen the waves of sorrow swelling in her soul. 'Dusk' signifies the encroaching darkness, a time of quiet that stirs the sad musings within the human soul. The vast expanse of the evening sky makes Kieu feel her loneliness, insignificance, and the irony of her situation in this 'spring-locked' tower even more keenly. The space amplifies the girl's feeling of sorrow, loneliness, and heartache. Amidst the endless expanse of water, her isolation becomes more pronounced, yearning for a hint of warmth, a sign of life to alleviate her loneliness. The 'flickering boat' symbolizes human life. Yet, it's just a vague, elusive boat 'flickering' in the 'far distance.' Nguyen Du uses alliteration with 'flickering' and 'far away' and inversion to emphasize the smallness, distance, and dreamlike quality of the boat at the sea's gate. The drifting boat in the murky sea, with no harbor in sight, as indefinite as Kieu's current life. Viewing the boat - a symbol of human life, Kieu might have hoped it would bring warmth, but instead, it heightens the sense of desolation, evoking an endless solitude in her adrift soul.

Looking far into the 'sea gate,' yet finding no warmth of companionship, Kieu turns her gaze towards the nearby waters:

'Sorrowfully watching the freshly fallen stream
Flowers drift vaguely, where do they head to now?'

Among the swirling stream at Kieu's feet, petals spin and then drift away. These fragile blossoms symbolize the fate of a woman adrift in life's currents, reminding Kieu of the destiny of beauty lost and wandering. The petals, bobbing and sinking, mirror Kieu's own fate at this moment. The rhetorical question 'where do they head to now?' burrows into the reader's mind, stirring thoughts and sadness for the fragile life of beauty forced to drift in distant, lonely, and desolate places. The phrase 'where to' at the poem's end, with its flat tones, creates a sense of indeterminacy, reflecting Kieu's current plight. Sitting alone in the pavilion, Kieu seeks solace in nature to alleviate her heartache, resentment, and loneliness. However, the more she observes, the deeper her sorrow grows, adding to her tumultuous state of mind.

Looking at the stream, at the sea gate, finding no trace of intimacy or comfort, Kieu returns her attention to the green grasses along the banks:

'Gloomily gazing at the inner grass, so drear
Where sky meets water in a hue of green so clear'

The green blades of grass, which seemed might ease her woes, all took on a hue of desolation, drearily 'so drear.' Gone were the days of 'lush grass reaching to the horizon' when Kieu was 'peaceful,' free under her 'curtained canopy.' Now, even the young green grass is tinged with the mood of a life adrift. From afar to near, from 'the foot of the clouds' to 'the face of the water,' all space is imbued with an overwhelming 'green so clear.' The verse reveals Kieu's mood of deep melancholy and desolation. Her sadness permeates the landscape, the atmosphere. What was once a vast expanse, with the vibrant greens of young grass and the horizon, now, through Kieu's eyes, becomes overwhelmingly desolate and lonely. No sound, no movement, only a desolate silence enveloping both scene and soul. Nguyen Du skillfully employs the art of imbuing scenery with emotion to highlight Kieu's mood of utter despair and desolation.

In that silent, overwhelming scene, Kieu longs to hear a human echo, a response to feel comforted, to not feel the despair of loneliness within her, yet in reply, she only hears the sound of waves, wind, and water from nature:

'Gloomily watching the wind churn the tumultuous face
With the roaring of waves encircling her place'

Every element of the surroundings: the wind, water, and waves, conjures up the image of Kieu's drifting, floating fate. The 'sound of the waves' 'roaring' around her instills fear in Kieu. For those waves' sounds seem like an ominous premonition, a signal of Kieu's stormy future fate. The 'roaring' 'waves around her seat' also deeply engrave Kieu's pained state of mind. Surrounded by an overwhelming silence of nature, she finds no warmth of human life.

Through eight verses, we can appreciate Nguyen Du's masterful use of scenery to reflect emotions. The repetitive phrase 'gloomily gazing' sets a melancholic rhythm, starting the eight-verse poem. Along with this, Nguyen Du skillfully uses alliteration to create a vivid portrayal of Kieu's mood. The changing rhythm and richly visual language contribute to the success of painting Kieu's emotional landscape.

The last eight lines in the excerpt from Kieu at the Ngưng Bích Pavilion reveal Kieu's mood when she was deceitfully confined, showcasing Nguyen Du's exquisite talent for describing inner feelings. It also deeply conveys his empathetic, understanding heart towards the fate of talented but unfortunate women. The excerpt from Kieu at the Ngưng Bích Pavilion is among the best passages in the masterpiece, The Tale of Kieu.

>>> See the full essay on Insights on the last eight lines of the poem Kieu at the Ngưng Bích Pavilion here.