A quiet valley with no one’s footprints,
an empty garden lit by the moon.
Suddenly my dog barks and I know
a friend with a bottle is knocking at the gate.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Korean poet
On a Journey by Kim An-guk
At an edge of the sky, I grieve for my youth;
I long for home, but home is still far away.
As spring lets loose the wayward east wind,
no one owns the wild peach, but it bursts into bloom.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Thinking of a Friend by Pak On
Snow melts and swells the stream,
crows fly toward the clouds at dusk.
Sobered by the scene from drunkenness,
I write this poem and think of you.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Meeting in Dreams by Hwang Chin-i
My wish to see you is fulfilled only in dreams;
whenever I visit you, you visit me.
So let us dream again some future night;
starting at the same time to meet on our way.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
Looking into the Mirror on New Year’s Day by Pak Chi-won
Suddenly I discover more beard has grown,
though it adds nothing to my six-foot frame.
My face in the mirror changes as the years go by,
but my heart remains as innocent as a year ago.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
An Incidental Poem by Song Han-pil
Flowers opened in the rain yesterday
and fell in the wind this morning.
What a pity that spring
should come and go in rain and wind!
translated by Kim Jong-Gil
On A Rainy Autumn Night by Ch’oe Ch’i Won
I sing a bitter song on the autumn wind,
with very few who really appreciate it.
Outside the world drips midnight rain:
under the lamplight, my thoughts drift far away.
translated by Kim Jong-Gil
A Dream by Yi Yang-yon
The way home is a thousand miles;
an autumn night is even longer.
Ten times already I have been home,
but the cock has not yet crowed.
translated by Kim Jong-gil
In My Study by Yun Son-do
My eyes fixed on the mountains and my ears on the lute,
how could the affairs of the world ever disturb my mind?
Though nobody knows, I am full of lively spirits,
wildly I sing out a song, and then intone it alone.
translayed by Kim Jong-Gil
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
Leonard Durso 