Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, the leading poet of the southern struggle, did not portray Định as a rebel opposed to the Huế court. In an elegy to fallen insurgents, Chiểu asserted that the resistance continued its struggle after the treaty was signed "because their hearts would not heed the Son of Heaven's edict". Chiểu strongly supported the partisans' continuing efforts in attempting to expel the French from southern Vietnam, a cause he considered righteous. However, his reference to Tự Đức as the "Son of Heaven" indicates that the legitimacy of the emperor was not called into question.McLeod, p. 104. After Định's death, Chiểu wrote in a poem:Lam, p. 11.
