Tran Huu Thung and his sweet poems

(Baonghean) - Tran Huu Thung was a very strong man, a top wrestler of the old Dien Chau district. Writer Bui Hien wrote about his friend: "Trung Phuong village, his hometown, is near Hai Vai hill. Suddenly, I had an association, comparing the sturdy figure of my friend, the farmer poet, to the towering, unruly figure, the broad shoulders of the famous stone mountain recorded in history books". He was also a multi-talented person, an excellent soccer player, a swimmer likened to "an otter", a famous bird trapper and fisherman.

In the past, Nguyen Cong Tru used to be proud: Heaven and earth gave me a talent/I put it in my pocket to play all day long... But his talents were music, chess, poetry, and wine... it seems that Tran Huu Thung only had the third talent (poetry) like his fellow Nghe An predecessors.

Poet Tran Huu Thung (sitting, left of photo) with artists from Nghe An in 1984. Source: nguyentrongtao.vnweblogs.com

Tran Huu Thung, in addition to Visiting the Rice - a poem included in textbooks and commented on by many people, also has other good poems such as Anh Van Hanh Quan which was set to music by musician Huy Du, the music and lyrics of which are still powerful enough to move people's hearts; there is also Tieng Hat Thoi Thoi, and Cho Tet Sau Cuon Cuon Nui which, according to poet Vu Quan Phuong, is "like a late success of his poetic life". And if Tran Huu Thung's lyrical poetry gradually became obscured, on the contrary, his personal lyrical poetry was emerging. Some of the Untitled poems he composed in the 80s and 90s of the last century were poems full of passion and tenderness. For example, the poem about missing a lover:

Forgetting each other is really hard,
Missing each other like day and night.
Oh day the sun spread across the porch
Oh night, half the moon is slanting through the curtain.
I have to confess
Forgetting each other is harder than remembering each other.

Or the following poem expresses the poet's desire for love and creativity, which is also a common aspiration for artists:
As silkworms, silkworms know how to spin silk.
It's me, I know how to write poetry for life.
Silk weaves silk, my dear.
Your poems you say words of love.
I wish there were afternoons
The mountain sunshine is warm, the field wind is cool.
My sister wears a pink silk shirt.
Sitting on the grass reading my poems.

Not to mention he also wrote memoirs and compiled dictionaries... The most valuable thing about Tran Huu Thung is his pure heart, his sincere feelings and his unique way of expressing himself. He once compared himself to a bamboo tree:

Though a hundred winds change direction
As a bamboo father only knows how to sing his own song.
Strong roots, straight tree, beautiful top
Thuy Chung lives in the midst of village love.
(Bamboo)

Throughout his life, Tran Huu Thung has followed the path that the great poet and outstanding critic Xuan Dieu predicted in a letter to him dated February 3, 1954: "... I see that Thung has enough courage to be a poet, certain in his stance, ideology, willingness to sacrifice his works for the sake of duty, in his sense of responsibility, in his ability to understand poetry, to dig deep into folk songs, into classical poetry, and add a professional passion to do it over and over again... What determines Thung's poetry is not the capital, the newspaper, the jury or the awards, but the white paper, black ink that Thung diligently puts his poem on, corrects it over and over again, and the masses who appreciate Thung's poetry. The path of poetry is the true path, drawn from the heart. In my opinion, in the new generation of poets after the August Revolution, Thung has a distinct, unique place. So always try, sincerely to be a poet, Thung will contribute something to Vietnamese poetry..." .

Ho Si Huy