Tag Archives: Gwangju

Around Chuseok by Kim Nam-ju

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Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Anne Rashid

Painted by Jung Jeong-im

Around Chuseok by Kim Nam-ju

In the early evening when the sky began to open its eyes, sparkle, sparkle,
I walked along with my son on the country path of Hometown.

“Daddy, daddy, we pee with a chili pepper, so why do women pee with their bottoms?”

Dumbfounded by my four-year-old’s question,
I looked around to see what I strangely sensed. In the pepper field in the distance,
three girls squatted to do their business naturally.

For some reason
the crescent hanging over the ridge was grinning a large grin.

추석 무렵/김남주

반짝반짝 하늘이 눈을 뜨기 시작하는 초저녁
나는 자식놈을 데불고 고향의 들길을 걷고 있었다.

아빠 아빠 우리는 고추로 쉬하는데 여자들은 엉뎅이로 하지?

이제 갓 네 살 먹은 아이가 하는 말을 어이없이 듣고 나서
나는 야릇한 예감이 들어 주위를 한 번 쓰윽 훑어 보았다 저만큼 고추밭에서
아낙 셋이 하얗게 엉덩이를 까놓고 천연스럽게 뒤를 보고 있었다.

무슨 생각이 들어서 그랬는지 산마루에 걸린 초승달이 입이
귀밑까지 째지도록 웃고 있었다.

Kim Nam-ju (1946-1994) was born in Haenam, Jeollanam-do and studied English at Chonnam National University. He is known as one of the major resistance poets in South Korea, leading the people’s movement in the 1970s and 80s that ultimately toppled the dictatorship in Korea. Because of his activism, he was imprisoned twice, for more than ten years in total. In prison where paper and pencil were not allowed, he wrote many poems on milk cartons with the nail he made by grinding a toothbrush. These poems were later published in two collected volumes of his prison poetry, The Sunlight on the Prison Bar. His poetry bears witness to the tyranny of dictatorship and the hardships of the oppressed. He published such poetry collections as Requiem, My Sword My Blood, One Fatherland, The Weapon of Love and In This Lovely World. He received the Yun Sang-won Literary Award in 1993 and the National Literary Award in 1994. His poems have also been memorialized by Korean activist, rock singer An Chi-hwan in his album entitled “Remember.”

The Sunlight on the Prison Bars by Kim Nam-ju

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Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Anne Rashid

The Sunlight on the Prison Bars by Kim Nam-ju

When I reach out a hand,
the sunlight lands upon it and looks lovely.
When I angle my cheek towards it,
it settles in and warms it.
As fall comes,
it becomes longer and longer—
as long as the squirrel’s tail.
When it wraps around my neck,
it becomes the scarf my sister knitted.
When it touches my lips,
it becomes a memory of old love
that we once exchanged.

창살에 햇살이/김남주

내가 손을 내밀면
내 손에 와서 고와지는 햇살
내가 볼을 내밀면
내 볼에 와서 다스워지는 햇살
깊어가는 가을과 함께
자꾸자꾸 자라나
다람쥐 꼬리만큼은 자라나
내 목에 와서 감기면
누이가 짜준 목도리가 되고
내 입술에 와서 닿으면
그녀와 주고 받고는 했던
옛 추억의 사랑이 되기도 한다.

Kim Nam-ju (1946-1994) was born in Haenam, Jeollanam-do and studied English at Chonnam National University. He is known as one of the major resistance poets in South Korea, leading the people’s movement in the 1970s and 80s that ultimately toppled the dictatorship in Korea. Because of his activism, he was imprisoned twice, for more than ten years in total. In prison where paper and pencil were not allowed, he wrote many poems on milk cartons with the nail he made by grinding a toothbrush. These poems were later published in two collected volumes of his prison poetry, The Sunlight on the Prison Bar. His poetry bears witness to the tyranny of dictatorship and the hardships of the oppressed. He published such poetry collections as Requiem, My Sword My Blood, One Fatherland, The Weapon of Love and In This Lovely World. He received the Yun Sang-won Literary Award in 1993 and the National Literary Award in 1994. His poems have also been memorialized by Korean activist, rock singer An Chi-hwan in his album entitled Remember.

Gazing at Mudeung Mountain by Seo Jung-ju

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Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Anne Rashid

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

Gazing at Mudeung Mountain by Seo Jeong-ju

Poverty is no more than tattered rags.
Can it cloak our inborn flesh, our natural heart
like the summer mountain
that stands baring its dark green back to the dazzling sun?

As the green mountain tends to orchids under its knees,
all we can do is nurture our offspring.

Husbands and wives,
as you meet the afternoon
when life retreats and gets swept up in rough waves,
once in a while sit down,
once in a while lie next to each other.

Wives, gaze silently at your husbands.
Husbands, touch also your wives’ foreheads

Even when we lie in the pit of a thorn bush,
we should always remember that we are just gems, buried alone,
thickly covered with green moss.

무등을보며/ 서정주

가난이야 한낱 남루(襤褸)에 지나지 않는다.
저 눈부신 햇빛 속에 갈매빛의 등성이를 드러내고 서 있는 여름 산 같은
우리들의 타고난 살결, 타고난 마음씨까지야 다 가릴 수
있스랴.

청산이 그 무릎 아래 지란(芝蘭)을 기르듯
우리는 우리 새끼들을 기를 수밖에 없다.

목숨이 가다 가다 농울쳐 휘어드는
오후의 때가 오거든
내외들이여 그대들도
더러는 앉고
더러는 차라리 그 곁에 누워라.

지어미는 지애비를 물끄러미 우러러보고
지아비는 지어미의 이마라도 짚어라.

어느 가시덤불 쑥구렁에 놓일지라도
우리는 늘 옥돌같이 호젓이 묻혔다고 생각할 일이요
청태(靑苔)라도 자욱이 끼일 일인 것이다.

Seo Jeong-ju (1915 – 2000) was born in Gochang, Jeollabuk-do. He is considered the founding father of modern Korean poetry. Under the pen name Midang, he published at least 15 collections of poetry. He taught Korean literature at Chosun University, among others. He was also nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in literature. His grandmother’s stories and his interest in Buddhism had a strong influence upon his writing. His works have been translated into a number of languages, including English, French, Spanish and German.

NB: Read Moon Byung-ran’s “Poverty” as a pair:
https://jaypsong.wordpress.com/category/moon-byung-ran/

Standing on the Mountain by Kim Hyun-seung

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Translated by Chae-Pyong Song and Anne Rashid

Mudeung Mountain, painted by Jung Jeong-im

Standing on the Mountain–Dedicated to Gwangju
by Kim Hyun-seung 

Climbing on the Mountain, I look over it–
my city that always blooms like flowers,

the city that fought for freedom
like a knife blade driven through the air,
the place where even the green grass of graves
became warm with the names of brothers.

It now encroaches upon the fertile field
and expands into the vast suburb, following chimney smoke.

Now new roofs have risen high upon hills and forests,
and ivory sounds drift down from the high, illusory towers
that intellect, poetry, and night laboratories have built.

Climbing on the Mountain, I look over it,
my hometown that always blooms like flowers.
Roads lie untied like chima strings;
familiar bars, bookshops, barbershops,
still streams and trees greening the streets
bring neighbors near to hold hands.

And the whistle sounds we all hear
in the morning and in the afternoon
carry away my dream and my innate sorrow to a far, faraway place.

Ah, the mountain which I would climb
to sing out upon whenever heavy with cares
and my beloved city I will return to when old
to look vastly through the glasses of recollection–
my hometown where poets grow!

산줄기에 올라 -K도시에 바치는-/ 김현승

산줄기에 올라 바라보면
언제나 꽃처럼 피어 있는 나의 도시

지난 날 자유를 위하여
공중에 꽂힌 칼날처럼 강하게 싸우던,
그곳에선 무덤들의 푸른 잔디도
형제의 이름으로 다스웠던‧‧‧‧‧‧

그리고 지금은 기름진 평야를 잠식하며
연기를 따라 확장하여 가는 그 넓은 주변들‧‧‧‧‧‧

지금은 언덕과 수풀 위에 새로운 지붕들이 솟아 올라,
학문과 시와 밤중의 실험관들이
무형의 드높은 탑을 쌓아 올리는 그 상아의 음향들‧‧‧‧‧‧

산줄기에 올라 바라보면
언제나 꽃처럼 피어 있는 나의 고향-
길들은 치마끈인양 풀어져,
낯익은 주점과 책사와 이발소와
잔잔한 시냇물과 푸른 가로수들을
가까운 이웃을 손잡게 하여 주는‧‧‧‧‧‧

그리고 아침과 저녁에
공동으로 듣는 기적소리는
멀고 먼 곳을 나의 꿈과 타고난 슬픔을 끌고 가는‧‧‧‧‧‧

아아, 시름에 잠길 땐 이 산줄기에 올라 노래를 부르고,
늙으면 돌아와 기억의 안경으로 멀리 바라다볼
사랑하는 나의 도시 – 시인들이 자라던 나의 고향이여!

Kim Hyun-seung (1913-1975) was born and raised in Gwangju. He is known for sublimating his Christian imagination into poetry as in “The Prayer of Autumn.” He is also known for founding a literary journal, New Literature, in 1951. In the 1950s, he taught creative writing at Chosun University and mentored many great poets known around the country.