I must take comfort,
take life as it comes
the way the wind whines in the trees
stripped of flowers and foliage.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Korean poet
Love’s Gift by Sowol Kim
These tears dripping for love,
these pearl-like tears,
I wish to spread together
with an imperishable red thread
for my beloved to wear around her neck
as a gift of love.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
A Lump of Grief by Sowol Kim
With incense burning, I kneel in prayer,
a lump of grief stuck in my heart.
Under a sliced moon the rain moans as it falls,
a lump of grief stuck in my heart.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Foreign Country by Sowol Kim
I turn to look at an iron bridge
I’ve crossed before I realize
I’ve set foot in a foreign land.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Road by Sowol Kim
Again last night
in a country inn
I heard a crow cawing all night.
Today
where shall I be bound?
How many more miles to go?
Up to the mountains,
onto the plains?
No, no place beckons.
No more talk.
To my home in the far north
trains and boats travel.
Tell me,
wild goose in the skies,
is there a sky-road that you travel so freely?
Wild goose in the skies,
look at me standing
at the crossroads.
The road radiates
in many directions
yet none of them can I choose.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Dawn by Sowol Kim
On the pondside ankle-deep in the fallen leaves
trees cast their jagged shadows
while waters awaken a pale sheen.
I stand alone waiting
for the day to dawn.
Are there tender tears heavenly people shed,
like a rain-cloud, on their lonely dream pillows?
My sweet, why don’t you come, shy and soft,
over to me across the waters?
A cloud braces against the evening skies.
A half moon holds a wake in mid-heaven.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Boating at Dusk by Song Ik-pil
Lost among flowers, the boat returns late;
expecting the moon, it drifts slowly down the shoals.
Though I’m drunk, I still drop a line:
the boat moves on, but not my dream.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Song of Cold Pine Pavilion by Chang Yon-u
The moon stands white above Cold Pine Pavilion;
autumn waves are calm on Mirror Lake.
Listen to the sad cries coming and going:
friendly gulls along the sand by the sea.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Cricket by No Ch’on-myong
Because my shelter must not be known,
because my poorness must not show,
in hiding through the night I cry.
For somewhere someone weeps like me
I must soak more in the moonlight,
retain the sorrow of my night again
there behind the stone steps.
translated by Ko Won
Deer by No Ch’on-myong
Because of your long neck
you are a sad animal;
always quiet and gentle.
Your line must have been of high birth,
you have their noble crown.
Looking at your image in the water
brings back long-lost tales
with a nostalgia too sharp to bear.
You look over, stretching your sad neck
toward the far hill.
translated by Ko Won
Leonard Durso 