Read the poem "Afternoon" by Mai Van Hoan

(QBĐT) - In 2024, poet Mai Van Hoan released the poetry collection " Afternoon " at the age of 75, an age that the ancients often considered "rare". Poets and close friends in Quang Binh who were born in the year of the Ox with him, Hai Ky, Ngo Minh, Lam Thi My Da, passed away one after another, no one could resist the golden circle of "birth, aging, sickness, death".

In his opening confession of the poetry collection Late Afternoon , Mai Van Hoan said that he wrote most of his poems after the age of 60 - "an age long enough to absorb and reflect on life, long enough to contemplate and purify". He wrote according to his own wishes: Just say what you feel/Good or bad, there will be time/Hopefully don't give up/Even if you still have a little breath left .

Afternoon consists of 131 poems that can be divided into 2 parts. The first part, nearly half, is poems about national heroes, famous people, poets at home and abroad that he had not met, such as: Great poet Pushkin, Nguyen Du, Nguyen Trai, Nguyen Cong Tru, Nguyen Ham Ninh, Tran Te Xuong, Dang Huy Tru, Han Mac Tu. Poems about famous people, contemporary artists that he had met, such as: General Vo Nguyen Giap, Lieutenant General Dong Sy Nguyen, musician Trinh Cong Son, poet Luu Trong Lu, Xuan Hoang, Xuan Quynh, Nguyen Trong Tao, Lam Thi My Da, writers Phung Quan, Nguyen Ngoc, Hoang Phu Ngoc Tuong, Hoang Binh Trong, Hoang Thai Son...

After 10 years of General Vo Nguyen Giap being laid to rest in Vung Chua, Quang Dong commune (Quang Trach), in 2023, he wrote: In the middle of Vung Chua, the General lies peacefully/Hiding the storm is Yen Island, protecting him/Many historical feats remain/The green grass roof is cool on summer afternoons (Grass Tomb). The General's tomb is only made of grass, not majestic or magnificent, but every day, veterans with "faces as gentle as grass" volunteer to receive visitors, and people come here to offer incense with sincere hearts.

Poetry collection " Afternoon" by poet Mai Van Hoan.

Every place he passed through, every work of his had a strangely profound association. In 1982, when he arrived at Nghi Xuan, he saw: Alone in the middle of the field/A small grave cold with incense smoke/Having suffered many heartbreaks/Now lying alone in the sun and dew . He thought of Thuy Kieu standing in front of Dam Tien's grave: Looking around but couldn't find any incense sticks/Thinking she was standing in front of Dam Tien's grave/People were busy competing/All about food, clothing, money, fame and profit ... (Visiting Nguyen Du's grave).

When passing the Kenh Kia bridge, he suddenly remembered Nguyen Ham Ninh's talent in writing parallel sentences that helped the young man from Khe Giang marry the girl from Kenh Kia village. He thought of the time when Nguyen Ham Ninh made King Tu Duc furious but still had to admire his talent. In the poem Nguyen Ham Ninh, he recalled the clever, sharp tricks and the talent in responding to defeat the arrogant, boastful flatterer: The arrogant and flattering crowd/Now no one remembers/The name Nguyen Ham Ninh/The poetry world still remembers .

In particular, the affection of three friends born in the year of the Ox who went to Hue for work, drank wine and wrote poems together: Ngo Minh laughed heartily/Hai Ky's voice was low and high/Mai Van Hoan occasionally/Injected a few folk songs/Of the three, now only one remains/Two have passed away/Passing by Hieu's wine cellar/Remembering Ngo Minh, Hai Ky (Three friends born in the year of the Ox). Mai Van Hoan lived a wandering life, he let loose with his literary friends. He drank wine with Phung Quan, Hoang Cat and especially Nguyen Trong Tao, a poet and musician with two famous verses: The Perfume River turns into wine, we come to drink/When we sober up, the temple is tilted and drunk . He said to poet Thach Quy when he had stomach surgery: If a poet abstains from alcohol/It is more miserable than being exiled/It is okay to operate on arms and legs/Why do you have to operate on your stomach (Poet Thach Quy on the operating table).

The second part is about his emotions, hidden feelings, and deep thoughts in his life. Mai Van Hoan was considered by his friends to be the descendant of the “king of love poems” Xuan Dieu. His poems have an attraction for many girls, they are infatuated with his poems, love his life. Nguyen Trong Tao wrote: “Mai Van Hoan’s poems have the force of a hidden wind, opening the door that hides many secrets…”.

In the poem Reminiscence, Mai Van Hoan wrote: The first time I knew the taste of a kiss/My face was red and my whole body was trembling/My eyes were sparkling and my lips were burning/We both shyly avoided looking at each other. His happiness was broken, with only one night left until the trial, he still begged his wife for forgiveness: Only tonight, only tonight left/My heart was burning with fire/Only tonight, only tonight left…/I will see you soon, what can I say?/What can I say when my heart is so sad?/Tonight is the last night to be apart forever/Only tonight, only tonight left… (Only tonight left). In his old age, his heart was still beating erratically, sobbing. The poem he wrote to his wife before they parted was asked by the chief justice to reconcile another couple.

After many years of struggling in life, he taught at the Pedagogical College (10+3) in Quang Binh and then entered the National High School for the Gifted in Hue. He fell in love again, and wrote poetry with “boats made of cypress hulls”. He ignored the gossip of the world/We just live with a sentimental heart/Who can stop our romantic soul/It is not easy to have a magical moment (To a person).

Mai Van Hoan's love poems are seductive and captivating. When he reached old age, he had to listen to his wife's words: Keep your love poems hidden/Vaguely yes or no/If you secretly go out to eat "pho"/You'll know the "lion of Ha Dong "! (Wife's advice). He was a man who loved his wife and children very much. He loved his wife Phi, his future wife: Staying up late at night and waking up early/She's no different from Tran Te Xuong's wife/After the hard times/She's still busy (Petition to the Jade Emperor).

Mai Van Hoan has poems in the six-eight meter that sound like folk songs, and many poems written for children with each line having four or five words that sound like nursery rhymes. In his old age, he returned to build a house in Thanh Khe village (Bo Trach), a village with 3 Vietnamese writers. He met his friends and relatives to write poems about them and lived out his last years. With 12 collections of poetry, 7 collections of critical essays, 1 collection of prose and 1 collection of translations of Nguyen Du's Chinese poems, poet Mai Van Hoan has contributed to the traditional Vietnamese literature that will last forever, flying high and far.

Hoang Minh Duc

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202406/doc-tho-xe-chieu-cua-mai-van-hoan-2219000/