Sijo - Korean Style of Poetry
이 몸이 죽고 죽어 一百番 고쳐 죽어
白骨이 塵土되여 넉시라도 잇고 업고
님 向한 一片丹心이야 가실 줄이 이시랴
My body may die, again and again
One hundred times again, and
May turn into but a pile of bones and dust,
My soul may or may not live on, but
My loyalty to my country shall remain unchanged for ever.
까마귀
싸호는 골에 백로야 가지마라
성낸 가마귀 흰 비츨
새오나니
창파이 조히 씨슨 몸
더러일가 하노라
鄭夢周 Jung Mong Ju, 1337-1392, a Koryo scholar
白雪이 자자진 골에 구름이 머흐레라
반가온 梅花난 어내곳에 퓌엿난고
夕陽의 호올노 서서 갈곳 몰라 하노라
Where pure snow flakes melt
Dark clouds gather threatening
Where
art the spring flowers abloom
A lonely figure lost in the shadow
of sinking sun, I have no place to go.
李穡 Lee Saik, 1328-1395 AD, on declining Koryo
Soaring high though a mountain may be
It is a mere mound beneath Heaven
Climb and climb, and no summit cannot be reached
Yet people stay at its base saying the mountain is too high.
http://user.chollian.net/~flumen/pyeong.ram (Song)
楊士彦 Yang Sah Uhn (1517-1584)
Peach and plum in springtime, don't be too proud of your blossoms;
Think instead of the faithful pine and green bamboo at year's end.
What season changes these noble stalks and their luscious evergreen?
Kim Yuki (late 17th century)
The life of a man is like a candle, that shines but a moment brief
If I must die for my country to live
I shall depart joyous, with the morning dew silent
A Korean War ballad
In a flower garden of a castle, pines a millennium old filter in the moon light
I hear death cries, drum beats of a battle, fought here eons ago
Silence returns supreme, where are the heroes of the battle now?
Anonymous