Prose Infused With Scent of Poet
By Cho Jae-hyon
Staff Reporter
Poetry shows only the facade of its author but prose exposes the writer's appearance from behind as well, presenting the whole of a poet, says poet Hwang Tong-kyu.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first poem, the 70-year-old poet published a collection of 35 short pieces of prose he wrote over the last seven years.
In this fourth collection of prose, he unpacks his thoughts on life, music, travel and literature as if he wants to prove that prose liberates a poet.
Hwang, one of the most renowned and prolific Korean poets, calls the latest collection the culmination of his prose.
He says he is not conscious of aging. ``I'm losing my memory power. However, strangely enough, I feel like my imaginative power is steaming up inside.''
Death is not something he is afraid of either. To the poet, a life void of something worth dying for is all but dead. ``Living close to death doesn't scare me much. Any living creature is mortal. Without death, it's just a thing.''
It seems he is not afraid of death as he has pursued what he believes is worth more than the life itself. ``What a man achieves weighs more than the man himself. One should live for what is worth more than life itself.'' To him, it is surely poetry that makes his life worthwhile.
He says he loves nameless tiny flowers in a wild field. In the eyes of the poet, they are more lovely and beautiful than other well-known flowers as they live their lives honestly, without minding names.
Divided into three chapters, the book gives readers a rare opportunity to follow the trace of thoughts of the poet. He talks about life and death in the first chapter, and arts and Zen Buddhism in the second. The last section delves into the meaning of literature.
This well-knit collection of prose shows that Hwang, long admired for his poetry, is also a vital prose writer. He is lavish with his storytelling gifts, with themes ranging from alcohol and bohemianism to music and travel. His recollection of encounters with other poets and literary giants is also a delightful tale that fans wouldn't want to miss.
What does literature mean to the writer? He acknowledges that he has been attracted to the ecstasy the right blend of words creates. However, the ultimate charm of literature to him is its absurdity ― one attains minimal effect with maximum efforts.
He says his poems are ultimately ode's to love, with most of his poetry full of the joy and sorrow of love towards another person. ``Love is also something that produces the least with utmost efforts,'' he says.
This ineffectiveness of literature lets people pause and gives them a breathing room, keeping them from being swept away by the torrent of life, he says.
The prose shows that the writer, refusing to be stagnant, always wants to renew himself. ``The true freedom comes when a person parts from the past self and is reborn as a new human,'' he says.
In ``A Few Scents of Life,'' the last essay of the first chapter and the subtitle of this book, the author recalls the beauty of sand dunes he saw when he visited ``Death Valley'' in California years ago. The sand dunes were morphing themselves at the mercy of the wind. Watching the sand dunes transforming themselves into different shapes, he, ironically, finds ``Death Valley'' full of life. There he hopes his life would be based on changes as the sand dunes change themselves. To him, change is the essence of life as the only constant is death.
This book is a warm-hearted exploration of how writing and music gave his life its essential integrity. Using the experience of daily life as material for his prose, he wrote about his life and literature comfortably and candidly. While reading this book, readers will find themselves falling into a quiet and delightful meditation.