Lee Si-young - poet for all walks of life

"Patterns" by Korean poet Lee Si-young, translated into English by An Son-jae and Yoo Hui-sok

By Choi Yearn-hong

Lee Si-young is a prolific poet who has published more than 11 poetry books.

The book “Patterns,” translated into English by An Son-jae and Yoo Hui-sok, is composed of selected poems from his first poetry book, “Full Moon” (1976), to his 11th book, “For Our Dead” (2007). Since receiving a review copy of the book, I have read all 201 of the, an average of two poems a day during the last 100 days.

It was quite a task for anyone to review a voluminous book., but I enjoyed it. These Before I proceed with the review, however, I first want to provide some background on the man who wrote them. He is known as a poet who captures a moment in his life, any moment, for his poetry. Any moment could inspire Lee to write a poem. He was certainly a talented poet.

He endured the long authoritarian rule of former President Park Chung-hee.

To many political scientists and economists, Park’s authoritarian rule was a pardonable means to convert a poverty-stricken country to an industrialized nation. But to a poet, it was unacceptable. Lee was arrested and imprisoned in the 1970s and the 1980s. His criminal record was likely deleted after the democratic government was established in 1987.

His poems began with his poverty-stricken country life in Jeolla Province, moving to his urban life in Seoul. Many people in rural areas moved to urban areas in the process of modernization in the 1970s. He was part of such a wave of social change., and his poems reflected the changing times.

His poems are easy to read, because they are accessible. His earlier poems were stories with metaphors., while his later, poems were more prose-like. Many poets of his contemporaries aimed for sophisticate or ambiguous poems. Against this background, the Korean people lost their classical lyrical poems. But Lee stood by his own unique style of poetry., which is more to my liking. I am more attracted to the poetry he had written in his later years, and not necessarily to the politically charged poems he had written in his early years. He had been the leader of the so-called leftist poets and writers who advocated democracy and freedom. He portrayed a poet’s role and mission clearly in two of his poems, which I present below.

“Poets’ Eyes ”

Good poets always have

eyes of their own.

Those eyes are immensely clear and transparent

Like those of squirrels,

Dew itself.

But they’re fixed to our backs

Like those of salmon swimming upstream against the current;

That possesses a fearsome power

Capable of anticipating the world’s deep abyss

And of hurtling at full speed toward its jaws.

How could we fail to be inspired?

“A Poem”

Just as an arrow divides the air, hits the target

And quivers there.

I hope that my words

Will pierce the wind, strike someone’s heartt

Then quivering intensely, penetrate deeper.

Like a spark,

No, like a first whole hearted uttering of love.

“Gravity”

The trees standing on the darkening cliffs are not lonely,

For with arms outstretched, the unseen powers of the ridges are holding them in a tight embrace

In the direction the wind is blowing.

The poem is short, but the readers may remember for a long time. Lee’s poems are like gravity, drawing in the readers.

Then, I re-read the book’s preface, written by Yoo Hui-sok’s:.

Noted for his terse vignettes and homely humor, Lee Si-young (1949-) is a poet with a sizable audience in Korea. His popularity rests on the ready access of his poems to people of all walks of life; unlike some of the more challenging poetic experiments of some modern poets, his poems are easy to read. There is, however, nothing facile about their openness. Once read, his poems resonate in the readers’ minds, touching them in ways only good poetry can touch.

The most touching poem I found in this book is “A Holy Place.”

One Sunday evening as winter was drawing near

A lone, weary old woman was leaning against a tree trunk

Outside Yongsan Church, where Mass was just beginning.

Approaching, I questioned her and learned

That she was waiting for her son and his wife

Who had abandoned her there one year earlier,

That now she felt no resentment toward them,

But did so much want to see once her grandchild’s

Bright, pure face.

I want to change the last line into her grandson’s “innocent face.” The holy place, the cathedral, became holier with athe grandmother’s forgiveness of her son and daughter-in-law, and her pray to see her grandchild, even from a distance. This poem could wipe away one old woman’s tears from her eyes. If my poem can do that, then I will be a happy poet. May God bless Lee Si-young.

Dr. Choi Yearn-hong is a poet and writer based in Washington, D.C.