Nguyen Quang Ha with a poem about storm number 8-1985 in Gio Hai

QTO - Many literary critics and writers have commented that in his writings, writer Nguyen Quang Ha walks on two legs, his right leg is prose, his left leg is poetry. His poems are mostly lyrical but have a strong philosophical color.

Poet Mai Van Hoan said: “Putting philosophy into lyric poetry is not easy at all. Nguyen Quang Ha is philosophical without being lofty, philosophical without being argumentative, philosophical without being preachy. Philosophy contributes to helping lyric poetry in general and Nguyen Quang Ha’s poetry in particular have both depth of thought and intellectual height.”

Gio Hai Sea now - Photo: TL

Associate Professor, Dr. Ho The Ha believes that Nguyen Quang Ha's poetry is: "A message about illusory love, about human feelings, towards lovers and relatives; re-examining one's love and life baggage before turning towards the People and country in the meaning of existence and gratitude...".

As for me, Nguyen Quang Ha's poetry is rich in melody. That's why many of his poems such as: Chiec rang khen, Chieu tim, Am tham, Con cong gio, Xin loi Quy Nhon ... were set to music by musicians: Phuong Tai, Vo Phuong Anh Loi, Do Tri Dung.

Here I would like to add that Nguyen Quang Ha’s poetry also has an informative quality. Hearing this, some people say that informativeness is an attribute of journalism, so why is it in poetry? Well, the poem “Coming to Gio Hai after storm No. 8-1985” by Nguyen Quang Ha is a poem full of information, considered as a “poetic memoir”:

Tsunami hit in the middle of the night

148 houses were swept away and missing.

2,300 homeless people

Walking on the old land of the old village

Just sand and sand

Eyes wandering without soul

Whose boat is this?

Whose wall is broken?

Nguyen Quang Ha with a poem about storm number 8-1985 in Gio Hai

Satellite image of Storm Cecil over the Binh Tri Thien - Nghia Binh sea area, at its peak intensity on October 15, 1985 - Photo TL

Just the opening verses show the ferocity of storm No. 8 in Binh Tri Thien in 1985. Along with the whole province, many places in Quang Tri that year had houses and trees devastated after the storm, the most intense being in Gio Hai, Gio Linh, the whole commune had 148 houses collapsed, more than two thousand people were left homeless... At that time, the country was still facing difficulties, there was no emergency supply of means and food like now. Therefore, the life of the people after the fierce storm that year was very miserable:

Relief rice without cooker

Torn shirt without needle

Digging the hills for fresh water

survive

Looking at each other, looking at the sky, looking at the ground

Dazed and bewildered hands

After the storm, the sky is clear, the sea is calm... that is the law of nature. The poet came here to observe and find the answer to why his people have to face harsh natural disasters all year round:

I look out to the distant sea

The sea is blue and clear

Still white-capped waves

Still seagulls fly

As if there was no storm

As if there was no tsunami at all.

The more he tried to look deeper into the ocean, the poet suddenly realized: “Suddenly I was startled/ Realized/ The sea surface last night and the sea surface now/ Clearly the storm is real/ The blue sea is real”. Storm, blue sea... are real, but the poet was still surprised by the harsh truth of the ocean:

Oh, could it be true?

Could it be the ocean itself?

"So

The sea also

change of heart

At this point, the reader suddenly realizes that every consequence has a cause. Sun, rain, storms are the work of heaven, sometimes it is “the terrible revenge of nature”, sometimes because “the sea also changes its mind”.

Thinking broadly, in life, when people “change their minds”, the consequences will certainly be unpredictable, sometimes even worse than… storms. That is the “second reality” that literary critics often talk about in poetic texts, even though sometimes the poets do not think about it when composing, or do think about it, but do not express it in the form of words.

With the poem "Coming to Gio Hai after storm number 8-1985", I think Nguyen Quang Ha's poetry contains more information, in addition to philosophy, conveying messages about illusory love, about human feelings... that many people have mentioned.

Minh Tu

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