Poet Nguyen Khoa Diem: Let young people feel about the Country themselves

Poet Nguyen Khoa Diem shared with Tuoi Tre Online about the poem "Country" being included in the 2024 high school graduation literature exam - Photo: NHAT LINH

On the morning of June 27, poet Nguyen Khoa Diem shared with Tuoi Tre Online after the poem "Dat Nuoc" was included in the literature exam for the 2024 high school graduation exam.

The poet said he would not comment on the poem being included in this year’s exam. According to him, each person, especially the young, will have their own feelings and personal love for their own Country .

"Let young people feel and think about the Country themselves. I think we need to respect those feelings," said Nguyen Khoa Diem.

Regarding why the word "Country" was capitalized in the poem, he said that it was because he intentionally emphasized it.

"It is a sacred phrase, a noun that evokes pride in everyone's heart when mentioned. Therefore, it is necessary to capitalize both words Country as an emphasis," he said.

Previously, the poem "Dat Nuoc" was also included in the 2020 high school graduation literature exam. Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online reporters at that time, the poet said: "I wrote this poem when I was a young adult. I speak the language of the young generation, so it may still be suitable for the thoughts of many students. When I wrote those verses, I was also of the same young generation as you."

"The poem is my very private feelings, in which I share very simply the country where he went to school. I still think that back then I spoke recklessly in a youthful way. Nowadays people don't speak like that. But that was the way I spoke when I was young. If I made any mistakes, people would understand. Now that I'm old, I don't speak like that anymore.

Now at this age, it is difficult for me to write such poems, but my thoughts about the country are still the same. The country belongs to the people, not to dynasties or kings. The people build the country, the country belongs to the people so we must take care of the people. I have always thought like that," he added.

Nguyen Khoa Diem was born on April 15, 1943, in Uu Diem village, Phong Hoa commune, Phong Dien district, Thua Thien Hue province. He was a member of the Politburo, Secretary of the 9th Party Central Committee, Head of the Central Ideology and Culture Commission, National Assembly delegate of the 10th tenure, and Minister of Culture and Information.

Nguyen Khoa Diem's ​​poems are based on Vietnamese literature and inspired by his homeland, people and the fighting spirit of patriotic Vietnamese soldiers...

His poetry is attractive because of the combination of passionate emotions and deep thoughts of an intellectual about the country and people of Vietnam.

The poem "Dat Nuoc" belongs to the epic poem "Mat duong khat vong" (The Road of Aspiration ), composed by poet Nguyen Khoa Diem in 1971 in the Tri-Thien war zone. The epic poem is about the awakening of urban youth in the temporarily war zone of the South about the country, the country, about the mission of their generation, taking to the streets to fight in harmony with the fight to unify the country.

Country

When we grow up, the Country is already there.

The Country is in the "once upon a time..." stories that my mother often tells.

The Country begins with the betel nut you are chewing now.

The country grew up when its people knew how to grow bamboo to fight the enemy.

Mom's hair is tied at the back of her head.

Parents love each other with spicy ginger and salty salt.

The beam and the column become the name

Rice grains must be sun-dried, milled, pounded, winnowed and sifted.

The Country has existed since that day...

Land is where I go to school

Water is where I bathe

The Country is where we meet

The Country is where I dropped my scarf in secret memories

Land is where "the phoenix flies to the silver mountain"

Water is where "the fish claws the ocean"

Time flies

Vast space

The country is where our people reunite

(Excerpt from The Country - epic poem The Road of Aspiration, Nguyen Khoa Diem, Literature 12, Volume 1, Vietnam Education Publishing House, 2020, p. 118)

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nha-tho-nguyen-khoa-diem-hay-de-nguoi-tre-tu-cam-nhan-ve-dat-nuoc-2024062711275269.htm