A touching poem about the General

(Baonghean) - General Vo Nguyen Giap has returned to his homeland. Millions of people mourned him, many families set up altars for him in their homes, many artists sent him off with tragic music and melodies or tearful poems.

One such poem, written in tears and sorrow, is “Mourning Him, the Country Holds Its Head High”, by author Nguyen The Ky. Right after its release at the General’s funeral, the poem was performed by artist Tran Quang Khai and musicians of the Vietnam Opera House in the form of a recitation, recorded, and immediately sought out by netizens to share as a work full of sentimental nostalgia for the deceased…

In the beginning, author Nguyen The Ky wrote about the emotions of millions of Vietnamese people at the passing of the General. “Millions of hearts sobbed together”, because in this pain, the beats of millions of hearts, the tears of millions of people merged into one. Like waves forming a river, like notes blending into a song, like winds intertwining in a majestic sunset… Millions of people, from “silver heads” to “bewildered blue eyes”, all shared the same grief. Because he was the General of the people, his whole life was devoted every day, every hour to the people.

“The moment I left him, I respectfully bowed my head.” There seemed to be a moment of silence after that verse. A moment of silence to respectfully bid farewell to the man with so many great achievements, a moment of silence for tears, for things that could not be expressed in words. Then, after that solemn silence, memories rushed back like a film, testifying to the proud life of the son of Quang Binh. Those were the heroic memories of the nation, from the time of Ngo Quyen, Ly Thuong Kiet, to Tran Hung Dao, Le Loi, Quang Trung and Ho Chi Minh… Through the memories of the heroic battles of the nation and the famous generals in history, Nguyen The Ky wanted to say that the victory of the Vietnamese people came from its original values, which was “using humanity to defeat cruelty and tyranny”, as Nguyen Trai once mentioned in the “Binh Ngo Dai Cao”.

The author devoted 4 stanzas to talk about the history of the nation's victory over foreign invaders, including the resounding victories led by General Vo Nguyen Giap. There is a simple but concise and meaningful verse: "A history teacher becomes a history maker". Originally a history teacher, General Vo Nguyen Giap became a history maker, a history changer. The author of the poem was truly talented in finding this idea and expressing that philosophy with just one very simple verse.

Video clip image: Poem on Nghe An Electronic Newspaper

The last two stanzas of the poem continue to write about the present, when the eldest brother of the Vietnam People's Army has passed away:

"Hey guys, girls, brothers and children

These past days I have been able to be with you.

Or painfully compress the heart and feel the distant scent

Join hands to unite the nation.

The author calls everyone affectionately as “uncle”, “sister”, “brother”, “nephew” as if they were all members of the same family. This loss is a common loss of the entire people, because in this context, the people are one family. Perhaps, in the sorrowful longing for the General, immersing himself in the crowd of people sharing the same “sobs”, Nguyen The Ky realizes a flesh and blood affection for everyone around him rising in his heart. The author calls everyone, calls them “uncle”, calls them “sister”, calls them “brother”, calls them “nephew” as if to share, to comfort, to find a place to lean on, to find an arm to hold tight, to love. And the author understands that, in the warm embrace of the entire nation, from those who are able to come near the General’s coffin to those who worship him with “distant incense sticks”, a song is being sung in unison, that is the song of “national unity”. Nguyen The Ky understood that, at this moment, it was the grief and sorrow that connected hearts, turning it into a flame of solidarity and enthusiasm. Therefore, he wrote:

“At this moment, each person becomes a flame

Burn brighter than Independence and Freedom

Burn brighter, Rich people, Strong country"

Sadness is not just a tragic emotion. It will become an unstoppable force if it touches the enthusiasm and human feelings of people. The "fire" Nguyen The Ky wants to talk about is that power. It is a fire that has been forged in the history of thousands of years of the nation, a fire that exists in every person's heart, waiting for the opportunity to burn brightly. "This moment", when the human heart is filled with sacred emotions, that fire burns, all merging into a great fire called Independence, Freedom, Rich People, Strong Country. Because in grief, people have found each other and together shared a nobler feeling than grief: "Regretting Him, the country holds its head high!". It is a very strong emotion that is difficult to describe in a word. For Nguyen The Ky, we can only use the phrase "the country holds its head high" to describe it, and if interpreted, people will understand it as being moved, united, moving forward, victorious, strong, proud, and proud...

The poem ends, still leaving in the reader's heart the echoes of that series of resonant and continuous emotions!

Pham Thai Ba