Farewell poetry branch of the XVIII – XIXth centuries

Abstract

Farewell poetry consists of poems, in which the author is the one who stays behind and say goodbye to someone as they move their living place. During the XVIII-XIXth centuries, this poetry branch recognized characteristics in both content and art. The emotional content associated with farewell events of three aspects: (1) patriotism, (2) the love of homeland and the family, and (3) friendship. The farewell poems recreated real life in this period on some typical aspects: the separation and dispersion, the poverty of the people, the effort of protecting the northern and southern border, the struggle of the Nguyen dynasty against the aggression of the French colonial. In these farewell poems, there are two outstanding artistic types of time: momentous time and continuous time including the past, the present, and the future. River is the most special space which appears in farewell poems. Historical references and materials for poetry and the artistic symbols such as willow, parting cupbeing used in farewell poems symbolize the separation, parting, farewell... This work contributes to elucidate concepts and outstanding characteristics of the contents and art of farewell poetry branch in Vietnamese poetry in the XVIII-XIXth centuries.