Yi Yook-sa's poetry in English translation
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By Ko Chang-su
Veteran translator Lee Sung-il (professor emeritus of Yonsei University and a renowned scholar of English literature) has produced another great achievement in translating Korean poetry into the English language.
This time, he has published a book of Yi Yook-sa’s poems: "The Vertex,” commissioned by the Yi Yook-sa Memorial Foundation and with financial assistance from the Literature Translation Institute of Korea.
Yi Yook-sa (1904-1944) was a pioneering poet of modern Korea and a descendant of Yi Hwang (1501-1570), the world-renowned Confucian scholar-philosopher. In his introduction to ``The Vertex,” Lee observes that Yi Yook-sa’s poems, though they number only 36 in total, reveal a poetic spirit and refinement in technique that belongs to the highest order of writer. His poetry is an intense expression of his passion for his native land, beauty and truth, as well as life itself.
Being familiar with Lee’s enthusiasm for translating Korean works and his deep love for poetry, his latest achievement prods my own affection for poetry. My admiration comes from his keen critical insight into the nature of Yi Yook-sa’s poetry, as well as his excellent translations that allow us to taste some of the extraordinary poetic impulses, music and imagery of the original poems.
Yi Yook-sa, for me, has not been an easy poet to read and interpret. He often uses words that appear archaic and abstract, among other things. With closer reading of the Korean poems and their English translations, however, I believe that Yi Yook-sa in fact uses words and phrases in a very idiosyncratic way. Moreover, I am struck by his powerful and effective imagery and the sonorous music of his verses.
I also note that Yi Yook-sa draws vivid, exotic pictures with sensuous images, often creating a primordial and mysterious atmosphere. His senses are alive and his poetic mind and heart are alert and vibrant. I’d be tempted to call him one of the best imagist/symbolist poets of Korea.
Though the place and time of Yi Yook-sa’s poems may seem quite remote and even primordial, and his images look sudden and abstruse at times, his poems touch our heartstrings potently in the here and now. I find reverberating lyrical overtones and local colors in both the Korean texts and the translations.
For me, the translator is torn between his loyalty to the original text and his desire to create readable lines of poetry in the target language. The balancing act can be treacherous. Lee adroitly negotiates that dilemma. In my opinion, he does so because he is very well versed in both languages, which is an enviable qualification for a translator.
Incidentally, my occasional conversations with Lee about Korean and world literature greatly hearten me and provoke in me an intense desire to read and reread more works of literature, including translations, at a deeper level.
Allow me to end my column by introducing Lee’s memorable translation of ``Green Grapes,” which happens to be my favorite among Yi Yook-sa’s works and is perhaps the best-loved poem for many a Korean reader.
Green grapes
The month of July at my home
Is the season when ripen green grapes.
The village legend mellows in clusters,
And the far dreamy sky enters each bead.
As the blue sea bares her bosom to the sky,
A boat with a white sail will come adrift.
And my longed-for guest will finally arrive
With his weary limbs, all draped in green.
Feasting on the grapes to welcome him,
I shall gladly let my both hands get wet.
Prepare on our table, my dear boy,
White ramie kerchiefs on a silver tray.
Ko Chang-su is a poet and translator of poetry. He can be reached at kochangsoo@hanmail.net.