Jeong Ho-seung's poem (4)

For a Whale

Translated by Brother Anthony and Susan Hwang

• Published Jul 29, 2015 7:20 PM KST
• Updated Jul 29, 2015 7:20 PM KST

If there is no whale in the blue sea,

it is not a blue sea.

If I do not rear a blue-sea whale

in my heart,

I am not young.

One who does not yet know that the blue sea

is said to be blue for the sake of the whale

does not yet know love.

The whale too now and then rises above the horizon

and gazes up at the stars.

I, too, for the sake of the whale within my heart,

now and then gaze up at the stars.

The Korea Times has begun to publish Jeong Ho-seung’s poems every Thursday. Jeong is the most widely read and well-loved poet in Korea today. His work expresses the joy and sorrow of life in ways that are immediately accessible to people of all ages.

In “For a Whale,” the presence of the whale, the poem says, is what makes the blue sea blue, bringing it to life. The whale’s energy and size are like the vitality, the hope and love contained in young hearts, but those need to be nurtured constantly or they might wither under the pressures of daily life, with its disappointments and sorrows. The secret of what makes the sea blue is linked to the unique value of love in life. Hope and love gaze up at the countless stars and gain courage.