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Overview
Available for the first time in English, Azaleas is a captivating collection of poems by a master of the early Korean modernist style. Published in 1925, Azaleas is the only collection Kim Sowol (1902-1934) produced during his brief life, yet he remains one of Korea's most beloved and well-known poets. His work is a delightful and sophisticated blend of the images, tonalities, and rhythms of traditional Korean folk songs with surprisingly modern forms and themes. Sowol is also known for his unique and sometimes unsettling perspective, expressed through loneliness, longing, and a creative use of dream imagery-a reflection of Sowol's engagement with French Symbolist poetry.
Azaleas recounts the journey of a young Korean as he travels from the northern P'yongyang area near to the cosmopolitan capital of Seoul. Told through an array of voices, the poems describe the young man's actions as he leaves home, his experiences as a student and writer in Seoul, and his return north. Although considered a landmark of Korean literature, Azaleas speaks to readers from all cultures. An essay by Sowol's mentor, the poet Kim Ok, concludes the collection and provides vital insight into Sowol's work and life. This elegant translation by David R. McCann, an expert on modern Korean poetry, maintains the immediacy and richness of Sowol's work and shares with English-language readers the quiet beauty of a poet who continues to cast a powerful spell on generations of Korean readers.
Azaleas recounts the journey of a young Korean as he travels from the northern P'yongyang area near to the cosmopolitan capital of Seoul. Told through an array of voices, the poems describe the young man's actions as he leaves home, his experiences as a student and writer in Seoul, and his return north. Although considered a landmark of Korean literature, Azaleas speaks to readers from all cultures. An essay by Sowol's mentor, the poet Kim Ok, concludes the collection and provides vital insight into Sowol's work and life. This elegant translation by David R. McCann, an expert on modern Korean poetry, maintains the immediacy and richness of Sowol's work and shares with English-language readers the quiet beauty of a poet who continues to cast a powerful spell on generations of Korean readers.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780231139724 |
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Publisher: | Columbia University Press |
Publication date: | 04/03/2007 |
Series: | Weatherhead Books on Asia |
Pages: | 216 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d) |
Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
David R. McCann is Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Literature at Harvard University. He has translated the work of many Korean poetsincluding Kim Chi Ha, So Chongju, Ko Un, and Kim Namjo-and is the author or editor of many books, including The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry and The Way I Wait for You, a collection of his own poems.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Sowol's Poetry and Place in Korean Literature 1
For My Love
Someday Long After 15
Plucking Grass 16
The Sea 17
On the Mountain 18
The Old Stories 19
Love's Song 20
Untitled 21
Love's Words 22
For My Love 23
On a Dry Riverbank 24
Spring Night
Spring Night 27
Night 28
Long Ago in a Dream 29
One Who Came in a Dream 30
Two People
Snowy Evening 33
Purple Cloud 34
Two People 35
Cock's Crow 36
Unforgettable 37
I Did Not Really Know Before 38
Sleeping or Waking, Sitting or Standing 39
Though the Sun Is Sinking at the Mountain Crest 40
No One Lone Mountain
Dream 43
Day of Worries 44
Sky's Edge 45
Ant 46
Swallow 47
Owl 48
The Great Wall 49
Buds 50
One Time, One Time
Cigarettes 53
Untitled 54
Mom and Dad 55
Parents 56
Remarried 57
Lost Heart 58
Spring Rain 59
Silken Mists 60
Memory 61
Impatient Love 62
Terrible Dream 63
Dream Visit 64
Woman's Scent 65
Powdered Face 66
Wife's Body 67
Seoul Night 68
Half-Moon
Autumn Morning 71
Autumn Evening 72
Half-Moon 73
The Cricket
This Thought of Meeting 77
Familiar Faces 78
Deeply Held Belief 79
Dream 80
Sweethearts and Friends 81
Paper Kite 82
Falling Snow 83
Lump of Grief 84
Optimism 85
Wind and Spring 86
Snow 87
Pledge Deep as Deep 88
Red Tide 89
Some Other Country's Land 90
Thousand, Ten Thousand Ri 91
Life and Death 92
Fisherman 93
Cricket 94
Moon Color 95
If the Seacoast Changed to a Mulberry Grove
If It Wasn't for Bad Luck... 99
If the Seacoast Changed to a Mulberry Grove 100
Wax Candle Lamp 101
Should We Just Say Whatever Words Are in Our Minds 102
A Later Day 103
Man and Wife 104
My House 105
Dawn 106
Cloud 107
Summer's Moon 111
Summer's Moon 111
Approach of Spring 114
Water Plants 116
Forsaken
Our House 121
Picnic 122
Forsaken 123
Solemnity 124
Only Think, If We Had Our Land, Our Own to Plow 125
By the Furrow 126
Evening 127
Hands Together 128
Meditation 129
Alone
Delight 133
Grave 134
Prayerful Spirit 135
Cold Evening 136
Invocation 137
Loneliness of the Journey
Loneliness of the Journey 1 141
Loneliness of the Journey 2 142
Azaleas
Song of the Stream 145
Road 146
Stream 147
Road Away 148
Wangsimni 149
Mandarin Duck Pillow 150
Detachment 151
Mountain 152
Azaleas 153
Sakchu Kusong 154
Seesaw 155
Ch'unhyang and Yi Toryong 156
Cuckoo 157
Thought of Home 158
Flowers of the Mountain 159
Lighting the Flower Lamp at Night
Lighting the Flower Lamp at Night 163
Riches and Honor, Wealth and Fame 164
Repentance 165
Insincerity 166
Dream Path 167
Human Beings Live to Die 168
Right to Seek to Die 169
Hope 170
Panoramic 171
I Have Lived Not Knowing Life at All 172
Golden Meadow
Golden Meadow 175
River Village 176
First Skirt 177
New Moon Celebration 178
O Mother, O Sister 179
Rooster Cock-a-Doodle-Doo
Rooster Cock-a-Doodle-Doo 183
Afterword: Remembrance of Sowol Kim Ok 185
What People are Saying About This
Francisca Cho
David R. McCann's translation is sensitive and well rendered. This work is in a class above and unto its own.
Francisca Cho, Georgetown University, and translator of Everything Yearned For: Manhae's Poetry of Love and Longing
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