U-Taek's Sijo For Spring

Sijo on Spring by U-Taek (1262-1342)


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

Danwon's Portrait of Threshers and Landowner

Threshing ( Tajak - 타작 )

Landowner's Sijo

It's dull work but someone has to do it or they will dawdle in the shade.
Still, I'd rather sit at home with a brush in my hand  instead of this pipe,
working on a portrait of the king. Why am I reduced to a watch-dog?

One Thresher's Sijo

I guess he did good in his former life for him to loaf like this now,

But it's little comfort to me hatless and pipeless under the summer sun,

Could I be reborn instead as a bird or fly, free from envy and bitterness?

Another Thresher's Sijo

The sun's a harsh landlord to us but it's kind to the rice; this harvest
means I can carry home rice for the children tonight. But is there enough
to put on the altar for the child who starved and died the year before?

For earlier postings with sijo inspired by Danwon:

Portrait of a Family
Danwon's Classroom

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Danwon-Byeo.tajak.jpg
http://article.joins.com/article/article.asp?Total_ID=3319781
http://everything.explained.at/Danwon/
http://thewordshop.tripod.com/Sijo/sijo-index.htm
http://sejongculturalsociety.org/writing/current/sijo_guide.html

One of Yun Sondo's Five Friends

As another farewell nod to Damyang in Jeollanam-do, I'd like to feature an excerpt from a poem by Yun Sŏndo (1587 - 1671). One of the most prominent poets in Korean literature, Yun has been compared to his contemporaries like Shakespeare, Basho and Cervantes. His poem, Song of Five Friends, is often quoted in anthologies of Korean poetry. Here are three versions of verse five from that poem.

The first version is by Larry Gross:

Look at this, it isn’t a tree, and it isn‘t a grass either;
How can it stand so erect when its insides are empty?

Bamboo, I praise you in all seasons, standing green no matter what

The second by Kevin O'Rourke comes from his book, The Book of Korean Shijo:

Neither wood nor grass;

who made it straight, why is it hollow?
So green all the year round; that's why I like it.

The third is my long-winded reworking ( with no regard for the technical rules of sijo composition):

Consider this: too skinny to be a tree, too thick to be grass;
You stand tall and strong, though insubstantial within.
Yet, despite the seasons, you remain steadfast in hue.

source:
http://thewordshop.tripod.com/Sijo/yunsondo.html
http://www.candlemaking.com/store/Bamboo-P2302C31.aspx?UserID=581291&SessionID=JvqIw2qWrguWYkTn4Ryr