Do people still need poetry?

Displaying the poetry collection Prison Diary by President Ho Chi Minh in many languages ​​and books about Uncle Ho at Vietnam Poetry Day in Hanoi - Photo: T.DIEU

That was the sharing of poet Nguyen Binh Phuong - Vice President of the Vietnam Writers Association - with Tuoi Tre on the sidelines of the discussion "From the courage to the identity of the poet" on the morning of February 24, on the occasion of Vietnam Poetry Day, organized by the Vietnam Writers Association at Thang Long Imperial Citadel (Hanoi).

The discussion revolves around the poet's character - what makes up the poet's identity.

At the discussion, critic Pham Xuan Nguyen read the poem "Talking to myself and my friends" written by Luu Quang Vu in 1970, when he was 22 years old, to recall the story of a poet's courage that Luu Quang Vu had talked about decades ago.

In that poem there is the line "The people do not need my poetry".

Looking at the situation of "unsold" poetry publishing, readers' recent disdain for and rejection of poetry, we can borrow a verse from Luu Quang Vu from more than 50 years ago to ask the question: Do people need poetry and what kind of poetry do they need?

People of all times need poetry.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, poet Nguyen Binh Phuong (awarded by the Hanoi Writers Association for his poetry collection Buoi cau ho hung) affirmed that people always need poetry, especially the Vietnamese people, a nation that has poetry in its genetic code.

Poetry has stood by the people since the beginning of time, poetry is in their speech, poetry goes out into the fields with people, encouraging, motivating, building optimism for people...

"Nowadays, people think that there is a lot of information but they are very lonely. They think that there are many types of art to enjoy but in the end, too much is also lonely. So poetry is even more necessary, because poetry is the only art that whispers to people in the most private corners," said Mr. Phuong.

He asserted that poetry has never been "out of favor" in his country. In fact, the number of poets is increasing. Poetry cannot be promoted as loudly as other art forms, so it feels like poetry is absent, but in fact, poetry is still quietly with each person.

Giving an example of how people still need and love poetry, Mr. Pham Xuan Nguyen said that during a recent spring trip to Ha Giang, during an impromptu session in Lo Lo Chai village at the foot of Lung Cu mountain, with young students from Hanoi who were also on a spring trip, he read the long poem Dat Nuoc by Nguyen Khoa Diem.

Everyone, especially the young people, was extremely excited. Afterwards, many young people came to him to thank him for awakening their feelings for poetry, helping them realize that poetry is beautiful and that they love poetry - something that they had not realized in 12 years of studying and reading poetry in high school.

Mr. Nguyen humorously responded to the question of whether people still need poetry, "Our country has a whole city named Can Tho." He agreed that people of all times need poetry. But the question is what kind of poetry do people need, is it the poetry that is currently flooding the world?

According to Mr. Nguyen, the kind of poetry that the people need is the kind that satisfies their needs, including poetry that speaks to society, which we almost don't have today, something that Luu Quang Vu pointed out more than 50 years ago.

Also borrowing the words of Luu Quang Vu's poem, Mr. Nguyen said that people need poetry that "builds life", builds the human soul, builds human character.

Poet Nguyen Binh Phuong also shares the same opinion. He said that the people's poetry needs to be the kind of poetry that when people are stuck, poetry is there to talk to them, when they are angry, poetry must express their anger, thoughts, and aspirations...

It must be a kind of poetry that speaks to the people, gives them confidence and direction towards goodness while they are confused in a society with many changes due to being in a stage of rapid development.

Old and young read poems together on "poetry trees" at Vietnam Poetry Day 2024 at Thang Long Imperial Citadel

Poet's courage

Speaking about the poet's courage, Mr. Phuong shared at the discussion that a poet with courage is someone who knows how to reject the crowd and reject trendy things. Courage is also the ability to accept others, helping to expand the poet's receptive field, and thus the creative field.

And the courage of that poet is to dare to speak his honest voice, to dare to speak the hottest, most intense, most sensitive voices that he thinks need to be spoken. Art in general and poetry in particular have the duty and responsibility to speak those voices to his people.

Poetry has many missions, but Mr. Phuong emphasized two important missions: prophecy and warning - missions that require poets to have courage.

Because with these two missions, the poet must be the first to point out the cracks in the soul, in the ideals on the seemingly smooth surface of human beings.

It also means that the poet is the one who points out the islands of optimism among the countless deadlocks of life.

However, Mr. Phuong also noted that courage is not blind sabotage, stubbornness, or conservatism. Courage is confidence in one's own goodness.

When having courage, the poet will touch the identity. And identity is not the pretense but the most flesh and blood expressed most accurately and courageously.

When a poet creates with identity, he or she contributes to the spiritual life of the community in general and to the life of poetry in particular.

Critic Pham Xuan Nguyen defines the courage of a poet as someone who silently follows his own path, does not follow trends, does not ask anyone to know him, and is steadfast in his own poetic style, which can be very challenging to readers.

He gave examples of poetic talents such as Tran Dan, Hoang Cam, Le Dat, Dang Dinh Hung, Duong Tuong... Although admitting that today's poetry lacks social poetic voices, Mr. Nguyen also mentioned some names that he considered talented such as Nguyen Binh Phuong, Nguyen Quang Thieu, Hoang Nhuan Cam...

When asked whether people still need poetry, critic Pham Xuan Nguyen humorously said: "Our country has a whole city named Can Tho". But the question is what kind of poetry do people need, is it the poetry that is currently flooding the market?

Poet Nguyen Binh Phuong believes that people need poetry that when they are stuck, poetry is there to talk to them; when they are angry, poetry must speak their mind.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nhan-dan-co-con-can-tho-khong-20240225092354115.htm