The beauty of the image of a soldier waiting for rain on the island

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WAITING FOR RAIN ON SURVIVAL ISLAND
(Excerpt)
We sat on Survival Island
The shadow is as dark as a dry, burnt tree stump.
Eyes staring at that place
Where the rain is deep and far away
Blue lightning flashed on the horizon…
Oh I wish I could see the rain fall
Our faces turned up like the ground
The clouds will no longer wither
Coral rocks will sprout green grass
Offshore islands will become land
We don't shave our heads, let our hair grow like grass.
Then crave each other
A lavish party full of soft drinks
Oh, I wish I could see the rain fall…
Heavy rain still lurking at sea
The green lightning still flickers on the horizon…
Oh, I wish I could see the rain fall
We will jump around naked in the sand.
………
Even without rain, we still survive
on the island
The island still survives on the stormy ocean
We are like a thousand year old stone in the beating heart of people
Like a solid rock, like a good rock…
The rain still spreads its splendid curtain far away
Rain graceful as a princess
Even though the rain never comes again
Then just appear deep at the end of the horizon
For when our soldiers
There is also a joy
waiting
1982
TRAN DANG KHOA

The life of soldiers on Truong Sa island in the last decades of the 20th century was full of sacrifices and hardships. Tran Dang Khoa understood that better than anyone, because he himself was a navy soldier at the forefront of the wind and waves to protect the sea and sky of the Fatherland. The memoir "Sunken Island" and poems written about marine soldiers such asSoldiers sing love songs on the island, My comrades on the fishing boat island… forever lies deep in the reader’s heart. In particular, the image of the island soldier once again appears beautifully and vividly with an optimistic spirit, a passionate love of life in the face of thousands of difficulties and challenges recreated throughWaiting for rain on Survival Island, composed in 1982. The poem is rich in narrative but still deeply lyrical, thereby spreading love for the homeland, the country, the sacred love of the sea and islands to each of us.

Title of the poemWaiting for rain on Survival Islandhas opened the reader's eyes to the image of islands in the middle of the ocean lacking rain and fresh water all year round, life is really difficult and harsh. Under the scorching heat and dry sand, the soldiers on the island wait for rain like children waiting for their mother to come home from the market, tired and anxious, and in the end that hope never comes, if anything, there are only "glittering green lightning on the horizon...". However, overcoming the harshness and hardship, the island soldiers are still innocent, love life, still "like a solid rock, like a fresh rock".

Waiting for rain on Survival Islandbegins with a very typical wait of the marine soldier: waiting for rain! Rain is a normal thing, a natural rule of life on this earth. But among the outpost islands, it is a rare grace of creation. The image of soldiers sitting waiting for rain "dark shadow like a dry tree stump"very specific, very vivid through the harsh, bare reality. In the posture of not "waiting for the enemy to come" but waiting for the rain with eyes staring into the faraway horizon, pitiful. Having experienced and understood, Tran Dang Khoa created the portrait of a soldier waiting for the rain with such a restless yet innocent mood. In the first verse, the author uses the verse "Oh, I wish I could see the rain fall" kept repeating itself hauntingly. Furthermore, the anxious posture of waiting for the rain to come is depicted with poetic images that are impressive and emotionally intense:“Eyes fixedly looking towards that place/ Where the rain is deep and far away/ Blue lightning flashes on the horizon…”.

Furthermore, the scene of waiting for the rain to the point that “our faces were turned up like dirt” was somehow very pitiful and pitiful! However, the rain was still somewhere far away on the horizon. So the rain in the mind appeared again as a necessity to save the island soldiers from waiting:“The colors of the clouds will no longer wither/ Coral rocks will sprout green grass... The grand banquet will be full of fresh water.”It is indeed a particularly impressive scene of waiting for rain, thanks to which a unique poetic verse was created, leaving a deep impression in the hearts of readers for over forty years.

The poet then freely imagined the rain that would come pouring down on the island in the minds of countless soldiers waiting and looking forward. The rain would be refreshing. It would rain like it had never rained before, with thunder and lightning. The soldiers on the island would “jump around on the sand”, cover their mouths with their hands and croak like frogs all over the island, then turn their faces up to catch the water like dry land meeting the rain. A happiness burst forth in the imagination, in the endless emotions and the “unspeakable joy and anxiety”.

The last two stanzas of the poem are the soldier's firm affirmation of the immortal survival of humanity and the sacred island of the Fatherland. Because Sinh Ton Island is still in the arms of the loving and benevolent Vietnamese Mother, the navy soldier is still"like a thousand year old stone in the beating heart of man". Even though waiting for rain but it doesn't come, the soldiers still have the joy of waiting for rain as a way of living a dignified life in the proud posture of soldiers who know how to overcome challenges and hardships, becoming outposts to guard the sea and sky of the Fatherland:“Even without rain, we still survive on the island/ The island still survives on the stormy ocean/ We are like a thousand-year-old stone in the beating heart of man/ Like a solid stone, like a fresh stone…”.

Waiting for rain on Survival Islandhas a humorous and cheerful tone, reflecting the life of soldiers on islands in the middle of the ocean. The poem has thus left an unforgettable impression on readers, especially during the period when the whole country joined hands to turn towards the beloved sea and islands - a sacred part of the Fatherland.