Author - Work: Deeply Moving Love for the Homeland

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - "Homeland Love 4" is the fourth poetry collection of the Pham Family Poetry Club of Quang Ngai, published by the Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House in March 2025. The collection is the culmination of 62 authors, with 141 poems, not only expressing their souls but also conveying gentle, profound emotions about love for their homeland, country, family, and nostalgia for the past.

The authors primarily express feelings of love for their homeland, country, and family through simple, familiar images that easily resonate with the reader. Reading poems like "Homeland Soul" (Pham Dung), "Visiting Quang Ngai" (Pham Dinh Dung), "The Country in Spring" (Thanh Hai), "Remembering Home" (Pham Van Kiem)... one can feel this. "Tra Giang's emerald waves carry the scent of the city / Thien An's green hills are imbued with the flavor of the fields / Truong Luy's prestige shines brightly in Vietnam / Sa Huynh's culture illuminates the Eastern sky" (Quang Ngai - Pham Van Thanh). The author uses concrete imagery to evoke pride in the natural beauty and heroic history of Quang Ngai, a land rich in cultural traditions.

The authors have recorded feelings of filial piety and gratitude for the contributions of ancestors, grandparents, and parents through precious verses and vivid, concise imagery with high expressive power, such as the poems: "A Brief History of the Ancestor Pham Tu" (Pham Thao), "The Legend Has Faded Away" (Huong Dai), "Mother's Hair" (Tran Thu Ha), "The Word 'Filial Piety'" (Hoang Diem), "Memories of Mother" (Pham Viet Tri)... "The pages of Vietnamese history will forever remain / The Mirror of Do Ho - Ancestor Pham Tu / The man who fought to drive out the enemy / Helped the Early Ly Dynasty establish the independence of Van Xuan" (A Brief History of the Ancestor Pham Tu - Pham Thao). These verses strongly affirm and are imbued with national pride, expressing reverence for the contributions of Pham Tu - the founder of the Pham family. Or, “The late autumn sky is pale with misty sunlight / The sunset slowly fades / Only a handful of earth separates us / A legendary MAN has gone far away...” (Legend Has Gone Far Away - Huong Dai). Using descriptive imagery to convey emotion, the author not only expresses boundless sorrow but also honors the stature of a “Legendary General” of the Vietnamese nation: Vo Nguyen Giap. And: “Throughout her life, she never ceased to ponder / That’s why her hair has gradually grown shorter / What did I reflect on this morning / In each strand of gray hair because of us?” (Mother’s Hair - Tran Thu Ha). The rhetorical question in the stanza not only expresses profound gratitude to her mother but also reflects a deep contemplation, brimming with emotion, leaving the reader deeply moved as they contemplate the immense debt of gratitude owed to their parents for giving them life and raising them.

Besides love for one's homeland and gratitude, the poetry collection "Homeland Love 4" also expresses profound nostalgia and reflections on time. Author Nguyen Hong Anh uses the image of "full moon" to express feelings about April - a time of special significance, capable of evoking memories in life. "I return to gather the full moon's light / Shining in memories of the ebb and flow of time / The earth, sky, all things, grass and trees / Oh April, the feelings still remain...!" (The Feelings of April - Nguyen Hong Anh). Author Hoang Than evokes in the reader feelings about the flow of life with his six-line verses, the slow rhythm like a self-reflection full of regret: "Seasons come / seasons pass quickly / The river's waters / remain forever" (Debt of an Embrace - Hoang Than).

Author Pham Thanh Luong, with his subtle metaphorical techniques, paints a picture of sweet love, full of longing and lingering affection. “Please pick up the sunlight for me / Send it in the scent of my green hair / Hold onto the kiss in my eyes / Spring is passionately yearning” (Sending Spring in the Sunlight - Pham Thanh Luong). Author Nguyen Mau Cong uses many beautiful, symbolic images, both realistic and romantic, to express a soul deeply attached to memories of love. “Stretching out my arms to count the soft raindrops / The falling drops shatter, searching for someone's figure / You return, leaving your footprints / I return, gazing at your reflection, tirelessly reciting poetry!” (July Afternoon Rain - Nguyen Mau Cong). Pham Nhat Linh, with his poetic imagery and lyrical tone, portrays the beautiful sadness of an artist. “A lingering echo remains, a few ashes / Burying deep the memories of a future rendezvous / ...Let life be that of a wandering minstrel / A little artistic charm warms the heart at the old harbor” (Heartache - Pham Nhat Linh). Even though love has turned to ashes, the author chooses to preserve it through art, through songs that wander through life. This is what makes the sadness no longer tragic, but a profound and meaningful beauty. The author, Dạ Miên, using personification, portrays a gentle yet deep sadness about separation and loss in innocent yet fragile teenage love: “The scent of lotus flowers plays in the breeze / The soft grass sleeps soundly / No longer waiting for you / I am lost in thought after school” (Farewell Song - Dạ Miên).

PHAM VAN HOANH

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Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc/202503/tac-gia-tac-pham-tinh-que-sau-lang-30217b8/