Korean Poetry(1)

Korean Poetry

The present anthology offers a historical view of Korean poetry spanning from the Silla Dynasty(57 B.C. - 935 A.D) through the Koryo Dynasty(918-1392 A.D.) and the Yi Dynasty(1392-1910 A.D.) up to modern times. For the classical poetry of Korea, expository articles by various hands are offered in this book accompanying the samples in English translation. Dozens of modern Korean poets are also represented together with a historical survey.

Korean Poetry

Hyangga(written in hyangchal, a native script), sijo and gasa(composed in the Korean vernacular) have a great deal in common in their content and form. For example, the shortest unit of poetic expression is the jijo, derived from the earlier form of hyangga. In turn, gasa, the most flexible in terms of the length, is similar in rhythms to those of sijo, for both are rooted in the very genius of the Korean language.

Korean Poetry

Along with these native forms, Koreans also adpted Chinese over the centuries for the purpose of poetic expression; the latter remained supreme as the language of the cultured until modern times when the Korean alphabet replaced it as the medium of daily expression.

Korean Poetry

The classical poetry of Korea reflects the important trends of thought which shaped the Korean mind over the centuries: Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as the indigenous Shamanistic beliefs. These systems of Oriental thought permeate even the Korean mind of today, now complemented by the ideas of the West, especially Christianity.

Korean Poetry

Hence, Korean poetry is a record of the race which has lived on the Korean peninsula for thousands of years, and who were open to important currents of thought of mankind. Unique qualities of Korean poetry, therefore, emerge in peculiar patterns of thought and feelings created through the pressure of history and daily life on the peninsula.

Korean Poetry

The vicissitudes of history marked by the succession of dynasties and the trauma of the changes in modern times, (chiefly the annexation of the country by Japan and the fratricidal Korean War) are everywhere reflected in Korean poetry.

Korean Poetry

Let us first examine a few examples of Korean classical poetry and then throw light upon modern poems through comparison and contrast. By doing so we can observe continuities and modifications of the Korean sensibility.

Korean Poetry

One characteristic of the classical Korean poetry is stylistic simplicity and ardent lyricism. "Song to a Dead Sister", perhaps the most famous of all hyangga, conveys across the centuries a poignant feeling of tragic life mitigated only by religious belief: 

After I was born into this world

You followed me into life.

Now you have gone away again,

Without a word you have gone.

You and i are like leaves driven down

Before the early autumn wind, 

For although they are born of one branch they part

And who knows to where they are bound?

Still here in this world, now I bow to Amitabha,

Remain firm in my vows and wait.

Korean Poetry

A fundamental situation of life, separation of brother and sister by death, gives to this poem a universal appeal and this is further strengthened by an effective use of nature imagery: the wind of inconstancy and the branch of relations.

Korean Poetry

One important form of verse developed following Hyangga in the history of Korean poetry is the Koryo kayo. The Koryo kayo is unique in that it was written purely in the vernacular by anonymous ordinary people in most cases. The most distinguished works in this genre are Song of Chong'up, Tongdong, Song of Chong Kwa-jong, Song of Sokyong, Song of Green Mountain, So you are going, Ode to Mother, and so on. 

Korean Poetry

The Koryo kayo usually deals with the feelings of a person who retired from the world and retreated to idyllic nature,, or the love between a man and a woman. It also tends to be lyrical since it often delineates one's private world.