From the poem "Nguyen Tieu" to Vietnam Poetry Day

(Baonghean) Regarding the Chinese poem titled "Nguyen Tieu" by President Ho Chi Minh, diplomat - poet Xuan Thuy once shared a very valuable document.

In early 1948, after attending an important conference, Uncle Ho sailed back to his base. The moon was bright and the scenery was beautiful and poetic, so Uncle was inspired to read two lines of poetry in Chinese. Then, he added two more lines. Thus, the poem "Nguyen Tieu" was complete. On the boat with Uncle Ho were comrade Xuan Thuy and several other comrades. Someone suggested that the author translate it into Vietnamese so that many people could enjoy it. Uncle Ho happily said: "Xuan Thuy is here, please translate it!". After thinking for a while, poet Xuan Thuy, in deep sympathy, read the translation in the national six-eight verse form:

The full moon of spring shines brightly,
Spring river water blends with sky color adding to spring.
In the midst of military discussions,
Late at night, the boat is filled with the silver moon.

After listening to his translation of the poem, Uncle Ho commented: “The translation is fluent and retains the poetic quality. But the second line has three words “spring” blended together, while the translation has two words “spring”, so the meaning is complete but the words are missing”. Poet Xuan Thuy thought Uncle Ho was right. Up to now, Xuan Thuy’s translation is widely circulated, in the second line of the poem “Nguyen Tieu” there are still only two words “spring”! However, there have been many additional poetic translations, no less talented...

The weather has turned to spring, the cold winter has just passed. The beginning of a new year is the bright moon, the sky is clear and warm, the earth is full of new life. The most precious thing about the full moon in January, perhaps lies there. The first two lines of the poem "Nguyen Tieu" create a beautiful spring picture, in the transitional sentence, the third line, the poetic quatrain suddenly appears.

And the last sentence of the poem concludes the work unexpectedly, full of aftertaste. The most easily sad image is “yen ba tham xu” (deep in the smoke and waves). But with Uncle Ho’s “Nguyen tieu”, “yen ba tham xu” is for “dam quan su” (discussing national and military affairs). On the boat, it turns out that he is not a wanderer, a carefree tourist sitting and enjoying nature, but a supreme commander of the resistance war against French colonialism. The revolution at this time had made a change, but there were still many obstacles and difficulties that had piled up since the day he took power. So everything had to be urgent and secret. The command worked intensely even in the middle of the night, on a boat in a remote mountain valley. Then at midnight, when the discussion was finished, “nguyet man thuyen” (moonlight filled the boat). So beautiful and poetic! That is the beauty, the poetry of resistance poetry, which Uncle Ho became the one who initiated.

This year's Vietnam Poetry Day, traditionally held on the 15th day of the first lunar month, is the tenth time. That time is enough to turn the annual Poetry Day of a poetry-loving country like Vietnam into a custom, a fine custom, contributing to building a new person to integrate with the world while still imbued with national identity. Nghe An also has the honor of being the hometown of the author of the poem "Nguyen Tieu". Welcoming Vietnam Poetry Day this year of Nham Thin, poetry lovers in Uncle Ho's homeland have the right to continue to place their faith and new hope for a true Festival of Poetry!

Nhat Thi