Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Anne Rashid

Painted by Kang Jang-won (Mudeung Mountain in Gwangju)

Gazing at Mudeung Mountain by Song Su-kwon

The grand mountain,
the mountain that became a shield

The mountain buried
by the fog of floating spirits,
the mountain wet with rain,
the mountain of graves, the mountain of shamans

But look at it:
below the sky where a black kite circles around,
Mudeung is without discrimination–it is equal

The mountain,
the wife and husband
built on the ocher earth
with their teeth clenched;
the mountain, they call, as they leave this world,
till their throats burst up,
sitting on their shovels on the faraway riverbank;
the blood-stained mountain,
the wandering mountain

Oh,
the mountain that became a shield,
the grand mountain

무등을 보며/ 송수권 

큰 산
방패가 된 산

떠도는 넋들의 안개에
묻은 산
비 묻은 산
무덤산 무당산

그러나 저 보아라 오늘
솔개가 도는 하늘 밑
무등은 무등일 뿐으로 평등하다

지어미 지아비
이 악물고
황토에 심은 산
이 삶을 떠나보낼 때
머나먼 강둑에 삽을 깔고 앉아 목 터져라
부른 산
피묻은 산
떠돌던 산

아 아

방패가 된 산
큰 산