청산에 눈녹인바람 건듯불고 간데없다
적은덧 빌어다가 머리위에 불리고저
귀밑에 해묵은 서리를 녹여볼까 하노라
The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared.
I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair
And melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears.
Does spring seem to mock one the older one gets?
U-Taek’s poem contrasts wistfully the youthfulness of the season and his own physical decline. If only one’s white hairs could vanish as easily as the melting snows. I’m more worried about the frost between my ears, though. Slip sliding away into senility doesn’t keep me awake at night but I find myself working at Sudoku puzzles a little more earnestly than before.
sources:
http://www.ahapoetry.com/sijo.htm
http://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/sijo_samples.html
http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_photo_detail.htm?No=16127
