A shadow strikes the water below:
a monk passes by on the bridge,
“Stay awhile, reverend sir,
let me ask you where you go.”
He just points his staff at the white clouds
and keeps on his way without turning.
Chung Chul (1536-1593)
*note how there are 3 lines in Korean but not in the translation? interesting!
If everyone were a government official,
would there be any farmers?
If doctors cured all disease,
would graveyards be as they are?
Boy, fill the glass to the brim;
I’ll live my life as I please.
Kim Chang-Up (1658-1721)
The spring breeze melted snow on the hills, then quickly disappeared.
I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair
and melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears.
U-Taek (1262-1342)
Soaring high though a mountain may be,
it is a mere mound beneath Heaven
Climb and climb,
and no summit cannot be reached
Yet people stay at its base
saying the mountain is too high.
Yang Sa Eun (1517-1584)
Jade Green Stream, Don’t boast so proud
of your easy passing through these blue hills
Once you have reached the broad sea,
to return again will be hard,
While the Bright Moon fills these empty hills,
why not pause? Then go on, if you will.
Hwang Chin-I (1506-1544)
I will break the back of this long, midwinter night,
Folding it double, fold beneath my spring quilt,
That I may draw out the night, should my love return.
Hwang Chin-I (1506-1544)
Green grass covers the valley.
Do you sleep? Are you at rest?
O where is that lovely face?
Can mere bones lie buried here?
I have wine, but no chance to share it.
Alone, I pour it sadly.
Im Che (1549-1587)
-written at Hwang Chin-I's grave
My horse neighs to leave here now, but you plead with me to stay;
the sun is dipping behind the hill, and I have far to go.
Dear One, instead of stopping me, why not hold back the setting sun?
Anonymous
Could the thousand branches of a green willow capture the fleeting springtime wind?
What could butterflies do to prevent the flowers they love from withering?
No matter how great one’s love, how could it make a leaving flame stay?
Yi Wonik (1547-1634)
If my tears were made of pearls,
I would catch them all and save them.
When you came back ten years later,
a jeweled castle should enthrone you.
But these tears leave no trace at all.
So I am left desolate
Anonymous
If on the pathways of dreams
a footprint could leave a mark,
The road by your window
though rough with rocks,
would soon wear smooth.
But in dreams paths take no footprints.
I mourn the more for that.
Yi Myunghan (1595-1645)
Fisherman's Calendar
I. SPRING
I drank and lay back;
the boat carried me down through the shallows.
Secure the boat, secure the boat!
Pink petals floated near;
Towon itself must have been near.
Chigukch’ong, chigukch’ong, osawa!
Red dust of the world -
how far away it seemed.
II. SUMMER
I look for my snail-shell hut,
it is hidden in white clouds.
Tie the boat fast, tie the boat fast!
Exchange my rod for a bullrush fan
as we start to climb the rock-path.
Chigukch’ong, chigukch’ong, osawa!
Did you think I lived idly?
This is a fisherman’s life.
IV. WINTER
A silent snow fell last night,
so I woke to a bright new world.
Work the oars, work the oars!
A sea of glass surrounds me;
further on the jade mountains rise.
Chigukch’ong, chigukch’ong, osawa!
Fairyland perhaps? Nirvana?
Surely not a world of men.
Yun Sundo (1587-1671)
-'chigukch'ong' is a form of onomatopoeia
I did not know Korea was so beautiful, did you?
My only association with Korea before the poetry of sijo was the Korean War, and the old concept of the domino theory?