Over nearly five years of studying the language, Korean poetry has captured my attention the most due to the aesthetics of the language, motivating me to continue learning. The Korean language is rich in meaning and originality, as Korea is a country with a long history and a vibrant culture. Yet the Korean alphabet itself is relatively modern, having been created in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great. His goal in inventing the alphabet was to facilitate learning and writing for the public, which makes Korean more transparent and simple compared to other Asian languages. This blend of depth and simplicity makes reading Korean a unique and enjoyable experience.
The beauty of any language is particularly evident in its poetry. Fortunately, many Korean poetry collections have been translated in recent years. However, no matter the quality of translation, reading poetry in its original language evokes a unique feeling that cannot be fully replicated. Therefore, I relied on reading both the original texts and their translations to compare them and learn new words and grammatical structures.
The first Korean poetry collection I explored was Hope is Lonely by Kim Seung-hee. It was among the selected books for the 2023 Korean Literature Review Contest organized by the Korean Literature Translation Institute. Fortunately, an Arabic translation by Dr. Mahmoud Abdelghaffar was available, and I read the collection with interest in its themes and style. Although my Korean proficiency at the time was limited, I tried reading some poems in their original language, which proved to be a much richer experience. Korean is a rhythmic language, and translation cannot fully convey its musicality.
I was struck by the strength of the poems’ ideas and the poet’s clear, mature female voice. The collection addresses issues such as isolation, pain, and hope, and the poet offers a critical perspective on Korean society, especially regarding women’s roles and status. The poems evoke conflicting feelings between despair and hope, reflecting the contradictions of contemporary society, where opportunities are abundant, aspirations are high, yet reality remains challenging. Even when happiness is elusive and obstacles persist, one must hold onto the thread of hope and continue living.
Later, I searched for resources that allowed me to read poetry in its original language while providing translations. I found an online blog called Korean Poetry In Translation, which contains numerous poems by contemporary and classical poets in Korean, translated into English by volunteer translators. The blog is run by the wife and daughter of Dr. Chae Pyong Song to continue his mission of promoting Korean literature worldwide, after he passed away following a battle with cancer in 2013.
The archive on the Korean Literature Wave website, affiliated with the Korean Literature Translation Institute, also helped me identify poets and their works for further exploration. It additionally provides some selected contemporary poems translated in the Korean Literature Now magazine.
Since classical Korean poetry is somewhat harder to find and involves complex, archaic language, I was initially unfamiliar with it. This changed after I enrolled in a specialized Korean literature course in 2024. Through studying classical poems with the instructor’s explanations and a textbook, I realized that it simply requires effort and patience. Classical Korean poetry offers readers deep insights into Korean history and culture and is worth exploring and reflecting upon.
Some publishers have also attempted to issue bilingual Korean-English books by Korean poets. Among the remarkable ones is A Letter Not Sent by Jeong Ho-seung, which contains over two hundred selected poems. The book summarizes a career spanning more than forty years of a great poet, taking the reader on a journey into his world and mind. The collection covers a wide range of human emotions, offering an unforgettable poetic experience.
One of the features of Korean poetry is its continual evolution, with current literary circles experimenting with both ideas and styles. Among contemporary poets I admire most is Yi Suho. I discovered her through Catcalling, a collection that impressed me with the boldness of its poems and the poet’s free expression. Her style often experiments with language and ideas and frequently integrates visual tricks and plastic arts to intensify the meaning.
Catcalling is a distinctly feminist collection, reflecting the challenges faced by young women in a patriarchal society. The poet discusses her life, experiences, and human relationships with openness and freedom.
Finally, one of the most recent translated Korean poetry collections is Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon. The poems are written from the perspective of the deceased, exploring themes such as bodily decay as a symbol of liberation from authority, female identity and its constraints, and collective death experiences like the Seoul Ferry incident. Through her poems, the poet gives voice to the dead and the marginalized. The book contains 49 poems, representing the number of days the spirit spends between the worlds of the living and the dead according to traditional Korean beliefs.
The collection has received global acclaim, and the poet has been invited to discuss it in several countries. Hearing her recite her poems added a new dimension to my reading experience and enhanced my understanding.
Poetry is the most complex and yet simplest form of literature; it does not require a particular plot and allows readers to interpret and perceive the text according to their own vision and thoughts. This makes it a rich literary experience, in addition to the vocabulary and structures that reveal the essence of a language.
Keywords:
Korean poetry, Korean literature, Korean language, Korean Literature Now magazine, Lonely Hope, Korea.net, Republic of Korea
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