2 translations
When I stand on a Hill, looking down at the Ocean
When I stand on a hill, looking down at the ocean
I am a small beast.
Life of man always
hides behind a distant cloud.
Because the taste of meat and blood
lingers in my dreams
I am still
an anguished beast.
Like the flower clams, that bask in the sun
on the sand beach
like the sad crabs, roaming inside dark graves
like ghosts,
once the big wave raises its hand
all will be swept away,
so I am a beast, still learning tears
when I stand on a hill, looking down at the ocean.
바다가 보이는 언덕에 서면
바다가 보이는 언덕에 서면
나는 아직도 작은 짐승이로다.
인생은 항시 멀리
구름 뒤에 숨고
꿈결에도 아련한
피와 고기 때문에
나는 아직도
괴로운 짐승이로다.
모래 밭에 누워서
햇살 쪼이는 꽃조개같이
어두운 무덤을 헤메는 망영인듯
가련한 거이와 같이
언젠가 한번은
손들고 몰려오는 물결에 휩싸일
나는 눈물을 배우는 짐승이로다
바다가보이는 언덕에 서면.
In the Field of Weeds
I walk in a meadow where the wind blows.
If I didn’t quiver, the wind would have no sound.
The wind laughs, blows my hair and my sash.
The sound is, doubtless, my soul discreetly becomes the wind.
Wherever I go, new blades of green poke their heads up.
I can’t move like the wind, without stepping on them.
I throw a pebble into the wind. Soon, it falls to the ground.
Since I am waiting for my beloved’s return
I always remain here.
I fall into the field of weeds.
Like the pebble, when thrown to the sky
cannot stay there; love has no regret.
Whatever crime I have committed
I bare the punishment for it to the end.
Oh, alone with my longing, my soul goes with the wind.
풀밭에서
바람이 부는 벌판을 간다. 흔들리는 내가 없으면 바람은
소리조차 지니지 않는다. 머리칼과 옷고름을 날리며 바람이
웃는다. 의심할 수 없는 나의 영혼이 나직이 바람이 되여 흐르는 소리.
어디를 가도 새로운 풀잎이 고개를 든다. 땅을 밟지 않곤
나는 바람처럼 갈 수가 없다. 조약돌을 집어 바람 속에 던진다.
이내 떨어진다. 가고는 다시 오지 않는 그리운 사람을
기다리기에 나는 영영 사라지지 않는다.
차라리 풀밭에 쓰러진다. 던져도 하늘에 오를 수 없는
조약돌처럼 사랑에는 뉘우침이 없다. 내 지은 죄는 끝내
내가 지리라.아 그리움 하나만으로 내 영혼이 바람 속에 간다.
Born in 1920, Cho Ji Hoon is a canonical poet of modern Korea. and a renowned traditionalist of Korean aesthetics. Although his poetry is written in a modernist free verse form, resonate with the deep root of Korean literati Sijo and has intense local flavor that imbued with sound, smell and color of the Korea before industrialization. In 1939, at age 19, Cho Ji Hoon published his first poem in literary magazine MoonJang. In 1946, he published his collection of poetry, “Cheongnok Zip(청록집),” alongside with the poets— Park Mokwohl and Pak Doo Zin. They were known as “Cheongnokpa,” the Green Deer Poets. 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 president of the Korean poet’s association. He received numerous literary awards, published 5 poetry collections, and numerous books related to Korean literature and culture.
Sekyo Nam Haines's 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 first book, Bitter Seasons' Whip: The Translated Poems of Lee Yuk Sa was published in 2022, April by Tolsun books. 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 by Cho Ji Hoon are forthcoming in The Tampa Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and poetry of Kim Sowohl and Lee Yuk Sa have appeared The Harvard Review, 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.