Plateau in Nguyen Thanh Mung's poetry

(GLO)- Poet Nguyen Thanh Mung is known for his poetry collections “Bitter Wine”, “Thousand Years Ago”, etc. Although he has not written much, his poems appear in most of the famous anthologies of modern Vietnamese poetry. In recent years, he has shown his love for the Central Highlands and written a lot about this land.

Interestingly, at the age of sixty, poet Nguyen Thanh Mung suddenly burst into six-eight verses with a tone of ecstasy in the clouds, imbued with the scenery of the mountains and forests, the great epic: "The stone axe blade of a million springs/Holds An Khe together for five continents/The endless Asian wind and European rain/The prehistoric mist and smoke build a bridge at dawn" (On the An Khe Paleolithic early stratum); "Waded in the rain and wind of the plateau/I became a reed of wild copyright/Hearing the fish stuffed in Po Ko/Talking with bitter eggplants on the banks of Se San" (Central Highlands Brocade); "A million years ago, the fire roared/So now the mountain voice is still its own reedy/A language imbued with the Central Highlands/The roots of the wild ginger root, the wild ginger" (Chu Dang Ya Volcano).

Chu Dang Ya volcano (Chu Pah district) has appeared in the poem of author Nguyen Thanh Mung. Photo: Pham Quy

Nguyen Thanh Mung wandered through the geological strata of the land of gongs, old forests, and elephants. He sought the pristine, pristine essence of the ever-splendored nature. He sought the gentle rhythm of the youthful Central Highlands.

Nguyen Thanh Mung's six-eight verses seem to find more excuses to freely sublimate with the colorful plateau: "With white hair, words and meanings grow on the mountain pass/The reeds are strong, the lim wood is knocked down/The stone kiss floats and clouds sink/Hearing it melt away in the quiet and proud silence" (Spring, returning to Nghia Si orange forest); "Bewildered, following the deer's eyes/Looking at the old forest, seeing the youthful antlers/Seeing young shoots among the bamboo/My wild love turns into velvet in my head" (Nine-story Waterfall in the Central Highlands); "Putting the backpack all the way up the mountain pass/Nine-story communal house, nine-story waterfall roars/Searching in the shadow of the sacred fire/The country's destiny gathers tigers and elephants" ( Gia Lai one two three).

Poet Nguyen Thanh Mung (left) and poet Le Van Ngan on a mountain climb. Photo: DUC TUAN

The feeling of mountains and sea as yin and yang is also fully present in Nguyen Thanh Mung's poetry. "The coastal roots are rooted in the plateau/The mountains hold the sea in their hands and become sweet/The sweet potato sheds its nameless coat/How much water and fire have become its name" (Le Can Sweet Potato); "People from the coastal region hesitate/Going to the forest to hear the mountains and forests poured into a cup/The day the sea swallows migrate/Printing a diary under the wild stars (...)/The plateau has undulating rapids and waterfalls/Ecstatic lips and eyes, hair and beard fluttering/The high mountains tighten the deep sea/The cup of coffee is also in each other's erosion" (Cup of Highland Coffee); "So many isolated Truong Son mountains/Like flocks of small birds circling out to sea/Islands rubbing their eyes against the sea and sky/A continental shelf that stretches out to the mainland" (From the plateau to the coastal region)...

The land and people of the Central Highlands seem to be more passionate and fresh in the soul of Nguyen Thanh Mung, a coastal poet. It can be said that it is a coastal highland love story.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/cao-nguyen-trong-tho-nguyen-thanh-mung-post329601.html