Korea's Girl on A Swing

SWING POEM by Seo Jeong-ju ( 1915-2000)

Hyangdan, push the swing.
Like pushing a ship
Far into the ocean,
Hyangdan.

Away from these wavy willows bowing politely to the wind,
The carpet of flower petals and meadows that lie beneath,
And the sweet butterflies and singing nightingales.
Push me away, Hyangdan.

To the sky where the corals nor islands exist.
Push me up.
Push me up like a coloured cloud,
Push this heart of mine that trembles.

I cannot go like the moon
That slowly runs away to the west.

Push me up away, Hyangdan
As the winds push the waves along.
Hyangdan.

"Seo Jeong-ju is a Korean poet from Jeollabuk-do who wrote three poems on Chunhyang. He dealt with the theme of transcendance through Chunhyang's words to her servant girl, Hyangdan."

What's interesting, for me, at least, is that Seo's Chunhyang, seems so different from the traditional heroine who's been held up as a model of steadfast loyalty to her lover. Instead Chunhyang here is a restless soul who expresses a desire to be elsewhere, a longing to escape the picture-like prettiness of her world. Modern-day misses in Korea may well appreciate the sentiments of Seo's persona instead of the heroine touted in the Chunhyang Festival in Namwon or in the literature books used in Korean schools. How many young Korean girls wouldn't prefer to emulate Han Bi-ya instead of the "Juliet" of the Joseon Dynasty?

Source:
Namwon, The City of Love,  A Tourist brochure ( produced by Namwon Tourism Promotion Commission).
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