The poem “Viet Bac” was born in October 1954, drawn from the collection “Viet Bac” – a collection of resistance poems by To Huu. After more than three thousand days of smoke and fire, Ho Chi Minh and the victorious army headed to the capital. In that heroic historical context, To Huu composed this poem. This is one of the most typical poems in “Viet Bac” that focuses on the beauty of the ideological and artistic values ​​of To Huu’s poetry.

Covering the entire poem is the nostalgia of the resistance cadre for the scene and the North Vietnamese. The nostalgia is passionate and repulsive, expressing loyal, heavy-hearted sentiments between “we” and “myself”, between residents and returnees, between resistance cadres and the people of Viet Bac:

“I’m back, do you miss me

I about, I remember the flowers to him

… Remember the person who knits the hat and sharpens each yarn

… Miss my sister picking bamboo shoots alone

… Who remembered faithful love singing grace”

The word “remember” is like a attachment in a sentimental song, making the hexagonal verse become deeply sweet.

In the 5 verses of the excerpt, verse 2 has the general meaning: “I come back, do you miss me – I come back, I remember the flowers with you”. Every sentence has an image of the nature of Viet Bac, and every sentence has an image of the people of Viet Uncle.

The image of nature in To Huu’s poem is beautiful, bright, poetic, and full of life. Literary critic Hoai Thanh commented: “To Huu’s verses about nature in Viet Bac can be compared with any verse describing nature in classical literature.” Nature in To Huu’s poetry The four verses are a picture of four seasons in a year, each season has a distinct nuance.The verse reminds us of the picture of the four soldiers in “Truyen Kieu” through the poet’s genius pen. Mr. Nguyen Du:

“The fading lotus blooms again

The days are long and the days are short, the momentum of winter turns to spring.”

To To Huu, the scene of the Viet Bac forest when winter comes is a vast green, adorned and lit by “bright red banana flowers”. Poetry and painting have shown the wild and magnificent beauty of the forests of Viet Bac. When spring comes, a pure, pure and pure beauty evokes a feeling of poetic and wistful – a “white forest” vitality that changes the natural landscape of the battlefield. And in the summer, “cicadas call the forest amber to pour gold”. Only Viet Bac has a forest of golden amber in the summer. The transition of time, the rhyme from spring to summer is expressed through the sound of cicadas, expressed through the word “dumping.” A beautiful verse because time also has color. are amber forests that are gradually turning yellow when summer comes in the bustling sound of cicadas all night and day.The word “falling” is a label that reminds us of Xuan Dieu’s verse in the song “Love Poetry” : “Pours out the emerald sky through all the leaves. Autumn comes to the place where the sound of the legend is heard.” In the autumn, the war zone forgets the stars, “The autumn forest and the moon shines peace”. Forests, rocky mountains, streams, “smoke and dew” are even more lovely under the peaceful and cool blue moon. I reminisce about Uncle Ho’s poem in the early years of the resistance war: “The moon is ancient, the shadow of the flower cage” (Late scene).

The picture of nature in To Huu’s poetry is bright, sexy, poetic and full of aesthetic colors. Each verse is a scene with colorful arrays and talented strokes. The color of the old forest, the bright red of banana flowers, the white of the apricot blossom in spring, the bright yellow of the summer amber forest, the peaceful and cool blue of the autumn moon. To Huu’s ingenious art of color mixing in the description made a beautiful and lively picture of nature as Uncle Ho wrote:

“The forest scene in Viet Bac is really good”…

(Vietnam Bac forest scene)

The nature of Viet Bac is still beautiful in harmony with living and active people. Therefore, Viet Bac’s nature is not desolate and dull, but on the contrary, it is full of life – the intense vitality of a country in resistance. The person mentioned in this poem is very beautiful and charming. First of all, people appear in the working environment, in harmony and harmony with nature.

“High pass in the sun with a knife in the belt” is one of the unique verses of the poem. The verse is considered a unique discovery of To Huu with the color “very Viet Bac” as Xuan Dieu said. The Viet Bac people when they go to the forest to visit the fields and work in the fields, they all have knives in their belts. of the pass, sunlight shines on those knives, creating a brilliant and sparkling reflection.With just one verse, the reader can feel the strong and heroic image of the North Vietnamese people. In a working posture, mastering nature, moving forward, it takes a delicate poetic soul and keen observation to write such beautiful verses. With the stature of the era as a producer or a soldier, both have a heroic posture:

“Mountains can’t hold their shoulders up

Camouflage leaves ring with the pass wind”

(To the Northwest)

Remembering “dreaming of white forest” in the spring days is also the recovery of “remembering the person who knits hats to refine each yarn”. The author writes about the people of Viet Bac in a specific setting, a specific job. The word “grooming” in the verse is to refine, polish, and beautify. The word “every” (each fiber) describes the virtues of diligence, meticulousness and hard work. With new skills, “grooming each yarn” is thin and shiny to knit into lovely hats, one of the typical handicrafts of Viet Bac. because as Nguyen Dinh Thi once praised: “The human hand is like a fairy magic – There are thousands of poems on bamboo and leaves.” So, along with the hat the poem of Hue is mentioned in folk songs, we know more about the hat. knitted conical hats through To Huu’s poetry.

The verse “Remembering the sister picking bamboo shoots alone” is a beautiful verse in rhyme. The rhyme: “girl – pick” (back rhyme) and the use of the consecutive consonant “m” of the words ” bamboo – one – me” creates a multi-voiced, musically attractive verse. A young Vietnamese girl, beautiful, optimistic, loves life, goes to pick bamboo shoots in the middle of the forest alone in the forest music, although she is “alone” but does not feel lonely. That man is mastering nature, mastering life. In the midst of a colorful artistic space and the sound of forest streams, the Viet Bac girl appeared so innocent and lovely! The last sentence of the poem: “Remember who the song of love is faithful” speaks of the beauty of the soul of the North Vietnamese. “Ai” is a frivolous pronoun that only evokes nostalgia, wistfulness, and loyalty. The song of faithful love between “we” and “who” was tested in bitterness and sweetness, in blood and fire, “those fifteen years were passionate and passionate” so it can never be forgotten.

To Huu’s poem about the nature and people of Viet Bac is a poem full of feelings of nostalgia and affection with a lot of pride for the Viet Bac “The revolutionary homeland that created the Republic”, and the real war zone. “Forests cover soldiers, forests surround enemies”. It can be said that To Huu not only praised the Viet Bac but also wrote the most beautiful poems praising the country and people of Vietnam in fire.

The poem is imbued with human love. Nostalgia has penetrated deeply into the landscape, into the hearts of people – people in people come back. A hexagonal poem with a sweet, resonant tone like the love song “I – I” in the past. The word “remember” is repeated many times to express the love and nostalgia that is full of…

“Viet Bac” is one of To Huu’s best six-eight poems, the above verse represents the beauty and beauty of “Viet Bac”. The artistic pen has a unique inheritance and creativity, from the lyrical melody of the folk song to the description of the unique love scene. Scenes and people are beautiful and lovely, bringing the vitality and atmosphere of the new era. The structure of the poem is classically beautiful, tight, balanced and harmonious, giving us many impressions and aesthetic feelings. Poetry is the heart, the voice of the heart. The above poem is the heart and voice of a resistance cadre for the Viet Bac “capital of thousands of winds”.