Le Anh Xuan - Poet of the Revolutionary Era

Before commemorating the writer-martyr Le Anh Xuan (also known as Ca Le Hien), the author of this article would like to make a small statistical observation to present a telling figure: among the nearly 1,000 Vietnamese writers today (the criterion being that the writer is a member of the Vietnam Writers Association), as many as 1/10 are former students or teachers of the former Hanoi University, now the Vietnam National University. Particularly noteworthy is the writer Chu Cam Phong (1941-1971), who graduated from the Faculty of Literature in 1964 and became a correspondent for the Vietnam News Agency on the Quang-Da front during the years of the war against the US; he bravely sacrificed his life on the battlefield in 1971. In April 2010, writer-martyr Chu Cam Phong was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Armed Forces by the President of Vietnam. On May 12, 2011, the Vietnam Writers Association held a ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of the sacrifice of writer, martyr, and hero Chu Cam Phong on the battlefield, and reprinted a nearly complete collection of his works. Knowing this, we can be proud of the tradition of Hanoi University, a prestigious Vietnamese university. Le Anh Xuan is one of the Vietnamese writers of the revolutionary era who graduated from the beloved Hanoi University.Poet Lê Anh Xuân (June 5, 1940 - May 21, 1968), whose birth name was Ca Lê Hiến, was born in Bến Tre town into a patriotic intellectual family. He was the second son of Ca Văn Thỉnh, an educator and literary researcher. At the age of 12, he studied and worked in the war zone at the Trịnh Đình Trọng printing house ( thuộc the Southern Education Department). In 1954, Ca Lê Hiến moved to the North with his family, completing his secondary education at the Southern Students' School (Hai Phong) and Nguyễn Trãi School (Hanoi). At university, Ca Lê Hiến studied at the History Department of Hanoi University (Class 3, 1959-1963). After graduating, Ca Lê Hiến was retained by the university as a lecturer, and later, as part of the long-term human resource training plan for higher education, he was sent abroad for postgraduate studies. In late 1964, as the flames of war spread throughout the country, Ca Le Hien, like many young people at that time, "put aside his pen and took up arms." His long-held dream was fulfilled; he returned to his homeland, back to the Southern battlefield, working in the Education Subcommittee, and later transferring to the Liberation Arts and Literature Association. During nearly four years on the battlefield, what we still call the front lines, Ca Le Hien – Le Anh Xuan – truly lived, fought, and wrote as a genuine soldier and a true artist. His love for the people and revolutionary ideals, his deep, sincere, and intense attachment to his homeland, which had been rooted since his youth, now surged ever more powerfully and profoundly. The main inspiration in Le Anh Xuan's poetry is love for his homeland and country, and love for the hardworking and courageous people of generations. More than anyone else, the poet understands the very essence of his people, as expressed brilliantly by the Hungarian poet Sando Petofi: "One hand plows / one hand wields a sword / The people's lives are filled with bitterness / Blood flows, sweat flows." A great artist always belongs first and foremost to his people. The literary career of Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan does not possess the massive volume of works, nor the "eye-catching" nature of literature today, which is considered a commodity in the market economy. The poet's works are pure and pristine throughout time. It is selfless, unselfish art; it is poetry that rises from a throbbing heart, beating in rhythm with the heartbeat of humanity (as expressed by the poet Xuan Dieu: "I share the same flesh and bone with the people / We share the same sweat and tears"). Le Anh Xuan's works are simply:Crow(poetry, 1965)There's nothing like in the South.(Poetry, published jointly, 1968)Nguyen Van Troi(Epic poem, 1968)Coconut flower(Poetry, 1971)Poem by Le Anh Xuan(Selected Poems, 1981)Preserve the land(Prose, 1968). Literary awards were not numerous compared to the exceptional poetic talent of Le Anh Xuan: Second Prize in the 1961 Literature and Arts Magazine poetry competition with the pen name Ca Le Hien (poem).Remembering the rain of my hometown); State Award for Literature and Arts, first round, 2001.

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If one were to use a metaphor, Lê Anh Xuân's poetry could be likened to the coconut flower, a flower characteristic of the beloved southern homeland of the poet. If this metaphor is acceptable, then we invite you to reread the poetry collection.Coconut flowerIn our opinion, Lê Anh Xuân's poetry collection is the culmination of a short but brilliant poetic life, illuminating and revealing the literary talent of Lê Anh Xuân. His talent and character, or in other words, his personality...talentand theheartThe artist within Le Anh Xuan is inseparable, like two sides of a sheet of paper. I read somewhere and remember a profound idea: patriotism begins with each person's love for the most ordinary things—the small river flowing through our village, the small house hidden in the garden where we were born; the love for our grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins... Perhaps we should educate our children starting from such small, simple things. Let's return to Le Anh Xuan's poetry to understand where the poet directed his pen at the beginning of his poetic career. In the article...Returning to my paternal hometown.(Considered the first poem since the poet returned to his homeland as a soldier-poet), Le Anh Xuan tremblingly wrote, “Oh, my homeland, green with coconut trees/ Who would have thought I would return today... Here is the old road/ Where I often walked in my dreams/ The creaking sound of someone's hammock at noon/ Lullaby... I miss you so much/ Oh, the white and pink bougainvillea flowers/ Like my pure and faithful heart.” Returning to his homeland of Ben Tre, shaded by green coconut trees, the poet seems immersed in the green of his homeland, dissolving into the green and sacred realm: “I grew up seeing coconut trees in front of my house/ Coconut trees lulled me to sleep in my childhood/ Every afternoon I heard the coconut trees rustling in the wind/ I asked my grandmother: 'When did the coconut trees come?'” The poem is particularly moving as the poet returns to his birthplace – Ben Tre.About Ben TreWritten in a state of overwhelming joy, the poem reads, "Oh Ben Tre, I'm back here!/ How many nights I've remembered, how many days I've longed/... Oh, homeland of my childhood/ How far apart we've been, now we meet here/... I hold the soil of my ancestors/ And feel the sacred flame in my hand." Of course, returning to one's homeland, a larger homeland, is inevitable, but after that, it's impossible not to visit the old garden (where the house of one's grandparents and parents once stood). In the poem...Old gardenSuddenly, Lê Anh Xuân felt a pang in his heart as he recited, "I return to visit my old garden / Coconut trees lie scattered and fallen / By day I hear no rooster's crow / By night there is no firelight / Where is the sapodilla tree / I planted in my childhood / The durian trees are broken / Weeds grow dimly green." After revisiting his old garden, the poet was momentarily speechless before the river flowing through his village, a river overflowing with childhood memories. The poemThe River of ChildhoodFilled with memories and overflowing with emotion, "The river of my childhood / Several bridges crossing it / Mother led me across / In the midst of the flood season / Vast and boundless." It can be said that Lê Anh Xuân's poems, written upon his return to his homeland after ten years of separation, are brimming with past memories, interwoven with the harsh present. This allows his poetry to simultaneously reveal its inherent lyrical quality while also foreshadowing another quality – the chronicle of life during the revolutionary and wartime era. These are poems whose very titles evoke thoughts and feelings about the turbulent revolutionary period.Breaking through the moonlit road, Meeting the heroes, Go home, my dear, The poem in white, Nowhere is like the South, To the North, Vietnam! Oh Vietnam!, The old guerrilla, The bamboo spike...

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I want to talk about "The Stance of Vietnam" - the title of a poem and also a great and beautiful symbol in Le Anh Xuan's poetry. The Stance of Vietnam, in Le Anh Xuan's poetry, can be said to begin with the stance of the mother in the poem.Red IxoraIn this highly narrative poem, the image of a Southern mother with unending grief is depicted (within 10 years, she lost her two dearest loved ones – her husband and son – to the enemy). Then, on the day of the Uprising, though her heart still bled, she found solace in the revolution rising up, in the return of her sons, not her own children – the liberation fighters – who had shaken the enemy to their core: “We rise up, lifting the bunker lids / The cruel oppressors tremble and surrender / Mother! Do you see? / The old revenge has been taken for my husband and son.” But on that historic day of the Uprising, the mother could see nothing anymore, her eyesight already failing. On that night of the Uprising, there was a mother: “On the night of the Uprising, my old heart rejoiced so much / I beat the bamboo drum, even hitting my hand / My eyes are blind, but my heart is still intoxicated / My hand hurts, I don't remember, the long night is forgotten.” And in one battle, when my mother volunteered to lead a squad of liberation soldiers to find a way to fight the enemy, she found a way to distract the enemy to preserve the force, and she bravely sacrificed herself: "A burst of gunfire in the night / In the fire and bullets, my mother's shadow shone brightly." Throughout her journey of fighting with her pen, Le Anh Xuan seems to have dedicated much of her affection to the liberation soldiers through her poems:Greetings to you, the victors, the Torchbearers, you stand in the middle of Thap Muoi., and most impressively, the poemVietnamese Stance- This is the last poem Lê Anh Xuân wrote before his sacrifice. Why did the poet focus on the stance of the Vietnamese people during the revolutionary and wartime eras? Living in peacetime like now, living in the equally fierce competition of the market economy, people seem to only care about...standingBecause one's position is directly related to their personal interests (it brings wealth, fame, rewards, power, etc.). In times of revolution and war, the issue is the opposite.standing postureIt then becomes important and meaningful. In the poemGreetings to the winners!Le Anh Xuan depicted the stance of the liberation soldier: "Today you stand up like Phu Dong / Trampling over the enemy's head, flying towards the future." Both the poem and such verses, however, represent a highly artistic generalization of the heroic figure of the era. The writing style is close to that of the poet To Huu at the time, who wrote about the heroic Vietnamese liberation soldier: "Hail to the liberation soldier! / We salute you, the most beautiful man! / History kisses you, barefooted young man / Living proudly and indomitably in this world / Like Thach Sanh of the twentieth century / With a slingshot and a spear, you attack the American enemy / You don't admire yourself, you don't know, O brave warrior! / The whole world, truth is watching you."Spring Song 68It's a symbolic style, close to mythology and legend. I think future generations, when they reread this poem, will appreciate it.Vietnamese StanceThe poem (written in March 1968) by poet and martyr Le Anh Xuan will help us understand another aspect of this work: was the poem written entirely in the spirit of artistic fiction or was it inspired by the truth of life and history? As we know, during the Spring Offensive and Uprising of 1968, on the Saigon-Gia Dinh front, more specifically in the attacks on Tan Son Nhat airport, the story of a liberation soldier who died while advancing is still passed down. This very posture struck fear into the enemy, causing them to hesitate; and it was this very posture of sacrifice while standing and firing that created the opportunity for our army to proactively attack and regain control of the battlefield. If he were a painter, I think Le Anh Xuan would have chosen yellow, red, and blue to complete his painting; but blue alone would have made the strongest impression on the viewer because it is the color of the liberation army uniform. During that wartime period, the green color of the military uniform became a symbol, inspiring To Huu to write this poem.The blue shirt“I dyed him again / A green shirt / Because, my dear, war / Doesn't accept the white shirt / He goes again through rain and sun / With a gun on his shoulder / With the green color of victory / Of the beloved South.” Le Anh Xuan is a poet with the qualities of a painter, thus creating in his poetry the unique characteristic of “poetry with painting.” Let's see how the poet “paints” the portrait of the liberation soldier: “He fell on the Tan Son Nhat runway / But he struggled to stand up, leaning his gun on the wreckage of the helicopter / And he died while standing and shooting / His blood spurted with the rainbow of gunfire.” As mentioned above, it was the soldier's sacrificial posture that terrified the enemy, to the point that even though he had died, the enemy still thought he was alive, looking straight at them and ready to fire: “Suddenly seeing him, the enemy panicked and surrendered / Some fell at his feet to avoid the bullets / Because he was dead, but his courage / Still stood tall, firing and attacking.” That is the unsung hero. History has always been largely written by unsung heroes. We all know that in Dien Bien Phu city today, nine out of ten graves in the martyrs' cemeteries belong to unknown soldiers. And the situation is similar in martyrs' cemeteries throughout the country. The liberation soldier in Le Anh Xuan's poem is also an unsung hero of history: “Not a single photograph, not a single address / He left nothing for himself before setting off / Only the image of a Vietnamese man etched into the century / He is a soldier of the Liberation Army.” There are special moments when individuals of “giant” stature—in terms of intellect, morality, or talent—meet history. This is what the poet To Huu wrote in his poem.Remember my words.(Praising the hero-martyr Nguyen Van Troi) “There are moments that make history / There are deaths that become immortal / There are words more powerful than any song / There are people born like truth itself.” For Le Anh Xuan, the liberation fighter is synonymous with history, with the people, with the truth of the era: “nothing is more precious than independence and freedom.” These are the concluding lines of the poem.Vietnamese StanceIt is a culmination, or even a summary: "Your name has become the name of the country / Oh, liberation soldier! / From your stance on the Tan Son Nhat runway / The homeland soars into the boundless spring." This is the style of legend, making the poetic image transcend its ordinary dimensions, becomingthe sublimeIt was considered a fundamental aesthetic category of art in an era of significant historical changes.

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Ideally, we should first mention, when we gather here to commemorate the writer and martyr Le Anh Xuan, but to conclude my article, I think I want to dedicate my feelings as a younger generation writer to my predecessor in the literary profession - that is...spirit of commitmentHe was a man of the highest esteem. As we know, Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan entered the prestigious Hanoi University in 1959. It's important to remember that the students at that time were selected very carefully; anyone who got into Hanoi University was certainly a talented individual. There's no doubt that Ca Le Hien was an outstanding student, as after graduation he was retained by the university as a lecturer. During his time as a teaching assistant, Ca Le Hien prepared for his future career and life. But life often has unexpected turning points. We know that by the end of 1964, the war situation had changed significantly: the US imperialists expanded the war with air attacks on North Vietnam starting on August 5, 1964; throughout the country, the war became increasingly fierce and arduous. In a favorable direction, Ca Le Hien would have continued his education and in the future he would have become a worthy scientist (because his father, the educator and scientist Ca Van Thinh, made many contributions to the field of literary research and had many valuable research works), as he was selected to study abroad. If he had followed this path, Ca Le Hien could very well be a well-known name in the field of historical science today. But it seems that everyone has their own destiny, and destiny is determined by character. I imagine that during that period, Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan - spent many sleepless nights pondering and agonizing over whether to choose the arduous path of science, fraught with challenges and obstacles, or the path of art, which does not accept those who calculate gains and losses, because art has always been selfless and non-profit. But one can imagine it this way: Ca Le Hien, by his very blood, is a person who likes to take risks and is ready to take risks. If To Huu had written a poem as early as 1940...Last will and testamentHe wrote, "From the moment I understood the revolutionary life, I knew that to commit to it meant imprisonment, a sword at the throat, a gun at the ear, and a life lived only half-lived." Similarly, in 1964, Ca Lê Hiến - Lê Anh Xuân surely told himself that making a revolution through art was also a commitment, a commitment no less arduous and sacrificial. He packed his bags, bid farewell to his family, relatives, friends, school, teachers, and colleagues, and set off for the battlefield. But this departure was actually the most spectacular return in the short but brilliant life of Ca Lê Hiến - Lê Anh Xuân. Returning to his homeland, fighting to liberate his homeland – what could be happier than that? Besides, not everyone can find happiness in life by living according to their own desires, by always being themselves! Perhaps Ca Lê Hiến - Lê Anh Xuân lived a vibrant and happy life in his final years, free to dedicate himself and sacrifice for his ideals in life and his profession. The life and literary career of Ca Lê Hiến - Lê Anh Xuân, if one can imagine it, was a self-sacrificing journey.Burn your heart until it becomes wisdom, and burn your wisdom until it becomes your heart.In modern Vietnamese literature during the revolutionary and war periods, we witnessed great examples of dedication, such as the writer-soldiers who fell in the national resistance against the French and American forces: Tran Dang (1921-1949), Tran Mai Ninh (1917-1947), Tham Tam (1917-1950), Hong Nguyen (1924-1954), Nam Cao (1917-1951), Duong Thi Xuan Quy (1941-1969), Chu Cam Phong (1941-1971), Ngo Kha (1937-1973), Nguyen Trong Dinh (1939-1968), Vu Dinh Van (1951-1972), Nguyen My (1935-1971)... These were great artistic personalities who lived, fought, and created literature with a noble spirit of dedication.

Hanoi, May 2011