How lonely I have wandered
torn apart from home!
How is it that you’re back
when flowers flare in the spring wind?
Lost to each other, we’ve become strangers.
Why should my old dreams visit me?–
recurring in waves of grief.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
20th Century Korean poetry
Dreaming of Old Days by Sowol Kim: for John Corden
Snow is falling, falling outside.
The moonlight steals through the window.
Dusk-borne, she enters my dream
to be held in my arms.
Tears soak my pillow
now she has left me.
At quiet dawn a shadowy star
peeps through the window.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Memory by Sowol Kim
Hugging in my heart a dream,
hazy and traceless,
I lean like a child on the gate
and gaze at the sky where clouds pass.
I stand on tiptoe to reach the sky-rim
only to find no path for my dreams.
Clouds scud back and forth across the blue
that stays forever constant.
Like a root stirring with life,
like a faithful heart that never fails,
dreams will bloom in the thorny path of memory
as the green grass sprouts in the stony fields.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
I Did Not Know Before by Sowol Kim
I did not know before
that the moon rises every night.
I did not know before
that I would miss you so much.
I did not know before
how to watch the brightest moon.
I did not know before
how the moon would be my sorrow.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
My Baby Has No Name Yet by Kim Nam-jo
My baby has no name yet;
like a new-born chick or a puppy,
my baby is not named yet.
What numberless texts I examined
at dawn and night and evening over again!
But not one character did I find
which is as lovely as the child.
Starry field of the sky,
or heap of pearls in the depth.
Where can the name be found, how can I?
My baby has no name yet;
like an unnamed bluebird or white flowers
from the farthest land for the first,
I have no name for this baby of ours.
translated by Ko Won
Spring Rain by Sowol Kim
Caught in a sudden shower, spring sobs,
while flowers fall everywhere–
even in my heart.
Watch, as the clouds drift high over the budding branches
until dusk descends with nightfall.
The sweet, sad rain falls endlessly
as do my tears on the carpet of flowers.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Two People by Sowol KIm
Flake after flake
fleecy snow falls
carpeting the mountain pass.
Straw-sandaled, with leggings fastened,
a knap-sack on my back,
I start on my way, then turn around
to catch sight of her form, almost
erased.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Sweetheart and Friend by Sowol Kim
A friend gladdens us when we are sad,
love sweetens us while we are in love.
When flowering strawberries scent the air,
when peppers ripen red in the night,
you sing and I will drink.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Cloud by Sowol Kim
If I could make a stallion
of the crimson cloud that sails
darkened in the night,
I would fly nine thousand leagues
to be held in your arms
while you lie asleep.
But this I cannot do.
When you hear the rain fall,
take it for my tears
that I shed every night.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Dreams by Sowol Kim
Even dogs and fowls
have dreams to dream–so some believe.
True, springtime is good for dreaming,
yet I go dreamless.
If only I could dream
and dream till the end of my days. . .
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Leonard Durso 