Le Anh Xuan - Poet of the Revolutionary Age

Before commemorating writer-martyr Le Anh Xuan (aka Ca Le Hien), the author of this article would like to make a small statistic to give a telling number: among nearly 1,000 Vietnamese writers today (the criteria for writers is that they are members of the Vietnam Writers Association), up to 1/10 were former students or teachers of the former Hanoi University of Science, now Hanoi National University. In particular, writer Chu Cam Phong (1941-1971), graduated from the Faculty of Literature in 1964, became a reporter for the Vietnam News Agency at the Quang - Da front during the years of fighting against the US to save the country; heroically sacrificed 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. On May 12, 2011, the Vietnam Writers Association held a ceremony to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of writer-martyr-hero Chu Cam Phong on the battlefield and organized a basic reprinting of all of his works. Knowing this, we can be proud of the tradition of Hanoi University, a Vietnamese university brand. Le Anh Xuan is one of the Vietnamese writers of the revolutionary period who grew up at the beloved Hanoi University.Poet Le Anh Xuan (June 5, 1940 - May 21, 1968) whose birth name is Ca Le Hien, was born in Ben Tre town, in a patriotic intellectual family, the second son of a teacher and literary researcher Ca Van Thinh. At the age of 12, he studied and worked as an intern in the war zone, at Trinh Dinh Trong printing house (under the Southern Department of Education). In 1954, Ca Le Hien gathered in the North with his family, finished high school at the Southern Students' School (Hai Phong) and Nguyen Trai School (Hanoi). At university level, Ca Le Hien studied at the Faculty of History, Hanoi University (3rd course, 1959-1963). After graduating from university, Ca Le Hien was retained by the school as a lecturer, then in the plan to train long-term human resources for the higher education sector, he was sent abroad to study postgraduate studies. At the end of 1964, when the flames of war had spread across the country, Ca Le Hien, like many young people at that time, "put down his pen and followed the army". Ca Le Hien's wish was fulfilled, he returned to his homeland, to the Southern battlefield, worked at the Education Subcommittee, and then transferred to the Liberation Literature and Arts Association. During nearly four years in the battlefield, which we still call the front line, Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan truly lived, fought and wrote as a true soldier, a true artist. The love for the people and revolutionary ideals, the attachment to the homeland with great, sincere and intense feelings that had deep roots since childhood, now arose increasingly stronger and deeper. The main inspiration in Le Anh Xuan's poetry is the love for the homeland, the love for the people who have been hardworking and brave for generations. More than anyone else, the poet understands the source of his people, as the Hungarian poet Sando Petophi skillfully expressed: "Plowing with one hand/ sword with one hand/ The people's lives are full of bitterness/ Blood keeps flowing and sweat keeps flowing." A great artist always belongs first and foremost to his people. The literary career of Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan does not have the massive volume of works, does not have the "eye-catching" quality as it does now in the market mechanism and commercial nature, so literature is also considered a commodity. The poet's works are pure and virgin throughout time. It is an art of selflessness, without profit; it is poetry that rises from a throbbing heart, beating in rhythm with the heartbeat of the people (as the poet Xuan Dieu expressed: "I am of the same flesh and blood with the people/ Sharing the same sweat and tears"). Le Anh Xuan's works consist of only:Crow(poetry, 1965)), Nowhere like in the South(Poetry, published together, 1968),Nguyen Van Troi(Epic, 1968),Coconut flower(Poetry, 1971),Poetry by Le Anh Xuan(Poetry Collection, 1981),Keep the land(Prose, 1968). Literary awards are not many compared to a special poetic talent like Le Anh Xuan: Second Prize in the Literature and Arts Magazine Poetry Contest in 1961 with the pen of Ca Le Hien (poemMissing the rain of my homeland); State Prize for Literature and Arts, Phase I, 2001.

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Le Anh Xuan's poetry, if it can be compared, is like the coconut flower that is typical of the poet's beloved homeland of the South. If this comparison is acceptable, that is, correct, then we invite you to re-read the collection of poems.Coconut flowerby Le Anh Xuan, the poetry collection, in our opinion, is the crystallization of a short but fiery and shining poetic life that reveals the literary talent of Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan. Talent and personality, or in other words, thetalentand theheartThe artist in Le Anh Xuan is inseparable, like two sides of a piece of paper. I read somewhere and remembered a profound idea: patriotism begins with each person's love for the most ordinary things, that is the small river flowing through our village, the small house hidden in the garden where we were born; the love of grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts and uncles... We should probably educate our children starting with such small, simple things. Returning to Le Anh Xuan's poetry to see where the poet directed his pen when he began his poetic career. In the poemReturn to hometown(considered the first poem since the poet returned to his homeland as a poet-soldier), Le Anh Xuan trembled and wrote “Oh, my homeland, green with coconut trees/ Who would have thought that today I would return... Here is the old road/ Where I used to walk in my dreams/ Creaking sound of hammocks at noon/ Lullaby... I miss you so much/ Oh, the white and pink cotton flowers/ Like your pure and loyal heart”. Returning to his homeland, Ben Tre, covered with green coconut trees, the poet seemed to immerse himself in the green of his homeland, as if dissolving into the green and sacred realm “When I grew up, I saw coconut trees in front of the gate/ Coconut trees lulled me to sleep as a child/ Every afternoon, I heard coconut trees rustling in the wind/ I asked my grandmother: 'When did coconut trees come into existence?'”. The poet was especially moved when he returned to his birthplace - Ben Tre. The poemAbout Ben Trewritten in a state of choking joy "Oh Ben Tre, we're back here/ How many nights I miss, how many days I long for/... Oh, the homeland of my childhood/ How far apart, now we meet here/... I hold the land of my ancestors/ I hear the sacred red fire in my hand". Of course, returning to my homeland, it is a great homeland, but after that, I cannot help but visit the old garden (where the roof of my grandparents and parents used to be). In the poemOld garden, Le Anh Xuan suddenly felt a pang in his heart because "I returned to visit the old garden/ Fallen coconut trees were scattered/ During the day, I could not hear the sound of chickens/ At night, there was no more fire/ Where was the star apple tree/ I planted as a child/ The durian trees were broken/ Weeds were growing green and dim". Visiting the old garden, the poet then seemed to be silent before the river flowing through his village, the river filled with childhood memories. The poemRiver of Childhoodfull of memories, overflowing with feelings "The river of childhood/ Several bridges across/ Mother took me across/ In the middle of the flood season/ Immense". It can be said that Le Anh Xuan's poems written on the day he returned to his homeland after ten years away, are filled with memories of the past, so the poetry rises up and mixes with the fierce present, creating for his poems at the same time revealing the inherent lyrical qualities of poetry but also signaling another quality - that is, the quality of chronicling life in the revolutionary and war era. These are poems whose titles themselves evoke thoughts and feelings about the stormy revolutionary era:Breaking the Moonlit Night, Meeting the Heroes, Come Home, Poem in White Shirt, There's Nowhere Like the South, To the North, Vietnam! Oh Vietnam!, The Old Guerrilla, The Bamboo Spike...

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I want to talk about “Vietnamese Posture” - the name of a poem and also a great and beautiful symbol in Le Anh Xuan’s poetry. Vietnamese Posture, it can be said in Le Anh Xuan’s poetry, starts from the mother’s posture in the poemRed cotton. In this narrative poem, the image of a Southern mother with unending pain (within 10 years, the mother lost two of her most beloved people - her husband and son - to the enemy). Then on the day of the Uprising, although her heart was still bleeding, she was comforted because the revolution was rising up, because the children not born to her - the liberation soldiers - had returned to shock the enemy "We stood up under the hatch cover/ The villains trembled and surrendered/ Mother! Can you see?/ The old revenge has been paid for my husband and for my children". But on that historic day of the Uprising, the mother could no longer see anything because her eyes had been blurred before. On that night of the Uprising, there was a mother "On the night of the Uprising, my old heart was so happy/ I even hit my hand with a bamboo gong/ My eyes were blind but my heart was still drunk/ My hand ached and I couldn't remember, even in the long night I forgot". And in a battle, when mother volunteered to lead a platoon of liberation soldiers to find a way to fight the enemy, mother tried to distract the enemy to preserve her forces, mother heroically sacrificed "A burst of gunfire in the night / In the fire and bullets, mother's shadow shone brightly". On the journey of fighting with his pen, Le Anh Xuan seemed to devote a lot of his feelings to the liberation soldiers through poems:Hello winners, Torchlight, I stand in the middle of Thap Muoi, and the most impressive is the poemVietnamese posture- the last poem Le Anh Xuan wrote before his death. Why did the poet pay attention to the posture of Vietnamese people in the era of revolution and war? Living in a peaceful time like now, living in the equally fierce competition of the market mechanism, people seem to only care aboutstanding place, because position is related to the immediate interests of each person (it brings money, fame, salary, power...). In times of revolution and war, on the contrary, the problemstanding posturebecomes important and meaningful. In the poemHello winners, Le Anh Xuan sketched the standing posture of the liberation army soldier "Now you stand up like Phu Dong/ Stepping on the enemy's head, flying to the future". The whole poem and such verses, however, are still a highly artistic generalization of the character of the hero of the era. In terms of writing style, it is close to the way poet To Huu wrote at that time about the heroic Vietnamese liberation army soldier "Hooray for you, liberation army soldier/ Salute you, the most beautiful man!/ History kisses you, barefoot boy/ Living upright and indomitable in the world/ Like Thach Sanh of the twentieth century/ With a slingshot, a spike, you also attack the American invaders/ Without looking at yourself, you do not know, oh brave warrior!/ The whole five continents, the truth is watching" (Spring Song 68). It is a symbolic writing style, close to myths and legends. I think, when future generations reread the poem,Vietnamese posture(written in March 1968) by poet - martyr Le Anh Xuan will help us understand one more aspect of this poem: was the poem written in the spirit of complete artistic fiction or was it inspired by real life and historical truth? As we know, in the General Offensive and Uprising in the spring of 1968, on the Saigon - Gia Dinh front, more specifically in the attacks on Tan Son Nhat airport, there was still a story circulating about a liberation soldier who died in an attacking position, this position made the enemy terrified and retreat; and it was also the sacrifice position while standing and shooting of the liberation soldier that created an opportunity for our army to proactively attack and regain the battle position. If he were an artist, I think Le Anh Xuan would have chosen yellow, red and blue to complete his painting; but blue alone would have made the most impression on the viewer because it was the color of the liberation army uniform. During the war, the green color of the military uniform became a symbol, inspiring To Huu to write the poemThe Blue Shirt“You dyed me again/ The shirt is green green/ Because oh my love, war/ Does not accept the color of white/ I go out in the rain and sun/ Gun on my shoulder to go/ With the green color of victory/ Of the beloved South”. Le Anh Xuan is a poet with the qualities of a painter, so he created for his poetry the uniqueness of “poetry with painting”. Let’s see the poet “paint” the portrait of the liberation soldier “He fell on the runway of Tan Son Nhat/ But he forced himself to stand up, leaning his gun on the helicopter wreckage/ And he died while standing and shooting/ His blood sprayed in the rainbow of bullets”. As mentioned above, it was the soldier’s sacrificial posture that terrified the enemy, to the point that even though he had sacrificed himself, the enemy still thought he was still alive, looking straight at the enemy and ready to fire “Suddenly seeing you, the enemy panicked and asked to surrender/ Some fell at your feet to avoid the bullets/ Because you were dead, but your courage/ Still stood upright, firing and attacking”. That is the nameless hero. History has always been written mainly by nameless heroes. We all know that in Dien Bien Phu city now, in the martyrs' cemeteries, 9/10 graves are of nameless soldiers. And in all the martyrs' cemeteries across the country, the situation is similar. The liberation soldier in Le Anh Xuan's poem is also an anonymous person of history "Not a single picture, not a single address/ He left nothing for himself before leaving/ He only left behind the Vietnamese posture carved into the century/ He is a soldier of the Liberation Army". There are special moments, where "giant" individuals in terms of intellectual stature, moral stature, and talent will meet history. This was written by poet To Huu in the poemMark my words(praising hero-martyr Nguyen Van Troi) “There are minutes that make history/There is death that becomes immortal/There are words that are more than any song/There are people who are born as truth”. For Le Anh Xuan, the liberation soldier is synonymous with history, with the people, with the truth of the times “nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”. The concluding verses of the poemVietnamese postureis a conclusion, higher than a summary "Your name has become the name of the country/Oh, you liberation army!/From your standing posture in the middle of Tan Son Nhat runway/The Fatherland flies up into the immense spring". This is the writing style of the legend that makes the poetic image become beyond its normal size, becomingthe sublimeCapitalism is considered a basic aesthetic category of art in an era of great historical changes.

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It should be said first when we gather here to commemorate the writer - martyr Le Anh Xuan, but to end my article, I think I want to dedicate all my feelings as a person from the poet's junior generation to thinking about his predecessor in the writing profession - that isspirit of commitmentof a man worthy of respect among the most. As we know, Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan entered the gate of the prestigious Hanoi University of Science in 1959. Remember that the student class at that time was selected very carefully, if anyone was able to enter Hanoi University of Science, that person was certainly talented. There is no need to hesitate when saying that Ca Le Hien was an excellent student because after graduating, he was retained at the school as a lecturer. During his time as a teaching assistant, Ca Le Hien had prepared for his future career and life. But each person's life often has unexpected turning points. We know that, at the end of 1964, the war situation had changed a lot: the US imperialists expanded the war by air force to the North since August 5, 1964; on a national scale, the war became increasingly fierce and arduous. In a favorable direction, Ca Le Hien will continue his academic path and in the future he will become a scientist with worthy contributions (because his father, educator, scientist Ca Van Thinh, is a person who has many contributions to the field of literary research, has many valuable research works), because he was chosen to study abroad. If he had followed this direction, Ca Le Hien could very well be a name in the field of historical science now. But it seems that everyone has a destiny, and destiny is decided by personality. I imagine that at that time, Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan had many sleepless nights and struggled, thinking about: choosing to set foot on the bumpy path of science, with many thorns and challenges, or choosing the path of art which does not accept those who calculate gains and losses, because art has always been impartial and not self-serving. But it can be imagined as follows: Ca Le Hien, from the blood, is a person who likes to commit and is ready to commit. If To Huu in 1940, in the poemLast Will and Testamentwrote “The revolutionary life since I understood/ To commit oneself means to endure imprisonment/ Is to have a sword at the neck, a gun at the ear/ Is to live only half a life”. Likewise, in 1964, Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan, certainly also told himself that doing revolution in his time through art was also a commitment, joining in no less hardship and sacrifice. He put on his backpack, said goodbye to his family, relatives, friends, school, teachers, colleagues and set off for the battlefield. But this departure, this journey was actually the most spectacular return in the short but fiery, brilliant life of Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan. Returning to the homeland, fighting to liberate the homeland - what could be happier than that, and besides, is it true that anyone can have happiness in life when they can live according to their own wishes, can always be themselves?! Perhaps Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan lived passionately and happily in the last years of his life when he was free to devote himself and sacrifice himself for his ideals in life and career. The life and literary career of Ca Le Hien - Le Anh Xuan, if one could imagine, was a life of freedom.Burn the heart to become wisdom and burn wisdom to become the heartIn the modern Vietnamese literature of the revolutionary and war period, we have witnessed great examples of dedication such as the writer-soldiers who fell in the resistance war against the French and the Americans: 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 are great artistic personalities who lived, fought and created literature with a noble spirit of dedication./.

Hanoi, May 2011