When I play a flute
When I climb to a loft
and play a flute
the cranes cry on the cloud road
stretching out for a thousand miles.
The blades of weed
drip in dews
the moonlight, green
moves over the mountain.
Like the wind
flowing over the water
the white-cold cloud overflows
in my heart.
When I play a flute
leaning on the loft wall
the flower wind and the flower rain
blend with my tears.
Under the twelve
Geehwa mountain peaks
culling the new sycamore leaves
the deer cries.
피리을 불면
다락에 올라서
피리를 불면
만리구름길에
학이 운다
이슬에 함초롬
젖은 풀잎
달빛도 푸른 채로
산을 넘는데
물 우에 바람이
흐르듯이
내 가슴에 넘치는
차고 흰 구름
다락에 기대어
피리를 불면
꽃비 꽃바람이
눈물에 어리어
바라뵈는 지하산
열두 봉우리
싸리나무 새순 뜯는
사슴도 운다.
Dandelion Flower
When I am lonely
for no reason, I long for
a single stem of yellow dandelion.
O, what comfort it is!
you come quietly to find me,
on this murky street, where I cannot loudly call for you.
I will leave behind these words, “I love you”
when I am gone from this world.
I try to forget, even if I become ill from not being able to forget
O, what comfort it is!
You lift your clear eyes and look at me!
민들레꽃
까닭 없이 마음이 외로울 때는
노오란 민들레꽃 한 송이도
애처롭게 그리워지는데
아 얼마나한 위로이랴
소리쳐 부를 수도 없는 이 아득한 거리에
그대 조용히 나를 찾아오느니
사랑한다는 말 이 한마디는
내 이 세상 완전히 떠난 뒤에 남을 것
잊어버린다.못 잊어 차라리 병이 되어도
아 얼마나한 위로이랴
그대 맑은 눈을 들어 나를 보느니
Falling flower
For the falling flowers
should I blame the wind?
Outside the bead curtain
one, two, the scattered stars fade.
After a cuckoo cried
the distant mountain came closer.
Shall I blow out the candlelight
when the flowers fall?
The shadows of falling petals
glimmer on the yard,
the white sliding door
blushes.
I am afraid
no one understands
the gentle mind of someone
living like a hermit
The morning, when flowers fall
I want to cry.
낙 화
꽃이지기로소니
바람을 탓하랴.
주렴 밖에 성긴 별이
하나 둘 스러지고
궈촉도 울음 뒤에
머언 산이 다가선다
촛불을 꺼야 하리
꽃이 지는데
꽃 지는 그림자
뜰에 어리어
하이얀 미닫이가
우련 붉어라.
묻혀서 사는 이의
고운 마음을
아는이 있을까
저허하노니
꽃잎이 지는 아침은
울고싶어라.
SEKYO NAM HAINES’s book, Bitter Seasons’ Whip: The Translated Poems of Lee Yuk Sa is forthcoming with Tolsun books. Born and raised in South Korea, Sekyo immigrated to the U.S. in 1973 as a registered nurse. She studied American literature and writing at Goddard College ADP and poetry with the late Ottone M. Riccio in Boston, MA. Her poems have appeared in the anthologies Do Not Give Me Things Unbroken, Unlocking The Poem, and Beyond Words; and in the poetry journals Constellations, Off the Coast and Lily Poetry Review. Her translations of Korean poetry have appeared in The Harvard Review, The Seventh Quarry Poetry Magazine, Brooklynrail: InTranslation, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Ezra, Circumference, The Massachusetts Review, and Notre Dame Review. Her translation of “The Dire Pinnacle” by Lee Yuk Sa appeared in The Anthology of Best Work in Translation by The Massachusetts Review. Sekyo lives in Cambridge, MA with her family.
Born in 1920, CHO JI HOON is one of the canonical poets of modern Korea. He was a renowned traditionalist of Korean aesthetics. Although his poetry is written in a modernist free verse form, his poems often resonate with the deep root of Korean literati Sijo. In 1939, at age 19, Cho Ji Hoon published his first poem in MoonJang. In 1946, he published his collection of poetry, Cheongnok Zip (청록집), alongside the poets Park Mokwohl and Pak Doo Zin. They were known as the Green Deer Poets, “Cheongnokpa.” He published 5 poetry collections and many essays and books related to Korean letters and culture, receiving numerous awards. A professor of Korean language and literature at Korea University for 20 years, he served as the president of the Korean cultural society affiliated with the university and as president of the Korean poet’s association.
