Sijo Korea Society New York August 7, 2013

Our goal: To establish sijo in American culture.

Not just to learn sijo.

Our goal: To establish sijo in American culture. Not just to learn sijo. Not just to write sijo.

Our goal: To establish sijo in American culture. Not just to learn sijo. Not just to write sijo. Not just to teach sijo in American schools.

Our goal: To establish sijo in American culture. Not just to learn sijo. Not just to write sijo. Not just for Korean-Americans. But for all students in America.

Join the team. Join the movement.

Join the team. Join the movement. Sijo can become a part of American curriculum And part of American literature and culture.

How can we say such a thing?

Because of haiku.

All American school children are taught haiku.

They learn the classic examples, They learn how to write haiku, And they actually write haiku.

Haiku was once taught in high school and was considered exotic or esoteric, but now, haiku is taught in grade school.

THERE IS NOT A PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENT IN AMERICA THAT -- HAS NOT STUDIED HAIKU -- DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE STRUCTURE OF HAIKU -- HAS NOT WRITTEN HAIKU

Haiku is a part of American culture.

Sijo is the next step.

“Why not sijo?”

Haiku is a simple, three line poem, with a precise rhythm structure. The first line introduces the topic. The second line develops the topic. The third line resolves the issue, often with a surprise or twist.

Haiku An old silent pond! A frog, suddenly, jumps in- The sound of a splash.

A haiku in English reflecting American culture Christmas by Ron Loeffler Glass balls and glowing lights. Dead tree in a living room. Killed to honor birth.

That is the definition of sijo – -- a simple, three line poem, with a precise rhythm structure. The first line introduces the topic. The second line develops the topic. The third line resolves the issue, often with a surprise or twist.

The difference is the length of the line and the structure. The structure:

The structure: OR

The structure: OR OR OR

The masterpiece 이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백번 고쳐 죽어 백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 님 향한 일편 단심이야 가실줄이 있으랴

sijo A three-line poem with the following structure

To understand meter Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere ‘Twas the nineteenth of April in ‘75 Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.

meter Listen my children and you shall hear 9 Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere 9 ‘Twas the nineteenth of April in ’75 12 Hardly a man is now alive 8 Who remembers that famous day and year. 10

beats = =

total beats = = 13 – 19 ___________ between 37 – 51 some say between

Ancestry of the sijo 향가 -- a ten/twelve line Silla (6 th -10 th C.) poem 고려가요 / 장가 – “long songs” 한시 – Chinese poems

The masterpieces Great sijo from history. The place our study begins. But not where it ends!

Our agenda today 1. Study the masters 2. Translate the masterpieces 3. Write our own

이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백 번 고쳐 죽어 백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 님 향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴. Though I die, and die again; though I die one hundred deaths, After my bones have turned to dust, whether my soul exists or not, My red heart, forever loyal to my Lord, will never fade away. Jeong Mong-ju (1392)

하여가 이방원 ( 조선 3 대 임금, 태종 ) 시조 이런들 엇더하며 져런들 엇더하리 만수산 ( 萬壽山 ) 드렁칡이 얼거진들 긔 엇더하리 우리도 이같이 얼거져 백 년 ( 百年 ) 까지 누리리라.

What difference does it make, whether it is this way or that? The tangled vines of Mt. Mansu in profusion grow all entwined. And we too could be happy like that, and live together a hundred years. Yi Pangwon

가마귀 싸우는 골에 : 정몽주 모친 가마귀 싸우는 골에 백로ㅣ야 가지 마라 성낸 가마귀 흰빛을 새오나니 창파 ( 滄波 ) 에 됴히 씨슨 몸을 더러일가 하노라.

가마귀 싸우는 골에 백로야 가지 마라 성낸 가마귀 흰빛을 새오나니 창파 ( 滄波 ) 에 죠히 씨슨 몸을 더러일가 하노라. Do not enter, snowy heron, the valley where the crows are quarreling. Over there those angry crows are envious of your whiteness, The body, that you’ve washed clean in the clear stream, I fear will become soiled.

History and history-makers Sijo can be used to teach history and biography – the important events of history and the people who made the history.

황진이 靑山裏 ( 청산리 ) 碧溪水 ( 벽계수 ) 야 수이 감을 자랑 마라 一到滄海 ( 일도 창해 ) 되면 다기 오기 어려오니 明月 ( 명월 ) 이 滿空山 ( 만공산 ) 하니 수여간들 엇더리

황진이 靑山裏 碧溪水야 수이 감을 자랑 마라 一到滄海 되면 다시 오기 어려오니 明月이 滿空山하니 수여간들 엇더리

Jade Green Stream flowing through the Green Hills, don’t be so proud of your easy going. Once you reach the vast sea, to return again will be most difficult. While the Bright Moon fills the empty hills, why not rest a bit before you go on?

태산이 높다 하되 양사언 태산 ( 泰山 ) 이 높다하되 하늘 아래 뫼이로다. 오르고 또 오르면 못 오를 리 없건마는 사람이 제 아니 오르고 뫼만 높다 하더라.

Taishan is the tallest of mountains, yet it is under the heavens. If one climbs and climbs, and tries and tries, there’s no reason one can’t reach the top. Yet some say they cannot make the climb, the mountain is just too high.

황진이 동짓달 기나긴 밤을 허리를 베어 내어 춘풍 이불 아래 서리서리 넣었다가 어룬님 오신날 밤이어든 굽이굽이 펴리라 I will cut this long mid-winter night in half at it’s waist And roll it and roll it and tuck it under my summer quilt So that when my love returns, I’ll unfold it to lengthen out the night

우탁 ( 禹倬, 1263 년 ~ 1342 년 ) 춘산 ( 春山 ) 에 눈 녹인 바람 건듯 불고 간 데 업다. 져근 듯 비러다가 마리 우희 불니고져 귀 밋에 해 묵은 서리를 녹여 볼가 하노라.

The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared. I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair And melt away the aging frost forming now it seems, about my ears....U T'ak ( , author of this the oldest known sijo)

My body, in its withering, may become a lovely swallow. Under the eaves of my loved one's home I'll build my nest of twigs. After dusk I'll fly aloft and glide gently to his side.... Anonymous

Gwangpunge deollin ewha omyeo gamyeo nalidaga Gajie motoreugo geomijule geolligeoda Jeo geomi nakhwain jul moreugo nabi jabdeut hareonda. Falling pear-blossoms whirl madly about in the wind, Unable to return to the tree; they are caught in spiders' webs And those spiders pounce on them, thinking they are butterflies.

Translating sijo – and doing it well respecting the meter and structure

이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백 번 고쳐 죽어 백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 임 향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴. Though I die, and die again; though I die one hundred deaths, After my bones have turned to dust, whether my soul exists or not, My red heart, forever loyal to my Lord, will never fade away. Jeong Mong-ju (1392)

It’s important to translate the masters well, accurately, and poetically. Here is an example of a bad translation. Although my body perishes, and yet one thousand times dies, My bones becoming ashes, Even my soul vanishes. Still all my heart and all my love, unchanged remains with you My undivided loyalty, unchanged remains with you.

Another bad translation This body may die a hundred deaths And my white bones may turn to dust and my soul may cease to exist But my steadfast heart for my beloved will never die.

Though I die and die again a hundred times, That my bones turn to dust, whether my soul remains or not, Ever loyal to my Lord, how can this red heart ever fade away?

This body may die and die, and repeatedly one hundred times die. [These] white bones may become dust and mud; and [this] spirit and soul may remain or perish. Facing my lord with one-sided devotion, how can there be a change of thought?

Were I to die a hundred times, Then die and die again, With all my bones no more than dust, My soul gone far from men. Yet still my red blood, shed for you, Shall witness that my heart was true E8.AA.BF_.E6.AD.8C.E8.A9.9E

이런들 엇더하며 져런들 엇더하리 만수산 ( 萬壽山 ) 드렁칡이 얼거진들 긔 엇더하리 우리도 이같이 얼거져 백 년 ( 百年 ) 까지 누리리라. What difference does it make, whether it is this way or that? The tangled vines of Mt. Mansu in profusion grow all entwined. And we too could be happy like that, and live together a hundred years.

Poor translation This won’t matter, that won’t matter It won’t matter if the vines at Mt. Mansu get interlaced Let us mingle together like this and enjoy it for a hundred years.

What if one goes this way, or that way? What if arrowroots of Mt. Mansu be tangled together? Tangled likewise, let us prosper for hundred years.

Jade Green Stream flowing through the Green Hills, don’t be so proud of your easy going. Once you reach the vast sea, to return again will be most difficult. While the Bright Moon fills the empty hills, why not rest a bit before you go on?

-- example of an awful translation -- 청산리 벽계수야 수이 감을 자랑마라 일도 창해하면 돌아오기 어려우니 명월이 만공산하니 수여간들 어띠리 Blue Mountains and clean stream don’t boast of this feeling When you open your mind to the vast ocean it’s hard to return Under the full moon, rest a little then go

Taishan is the tallest of mountains, yet it is under the heavens. If one climbs and climbs, and tries and tries, there’s no reason one can’t reach the top. Yet some say they cannot make the climb, the mountain is just too high.

T’aishan T’aishan is the tallest of mountains, yet it is under the heavens If one climbs and climbs and climbs, no summit cannot be reached Yet some people stay at its base saying only that the mountain is too high.

Everest is the tallest of mountains, yet it is under the heavens. If one climbs and climbs, and tries and tries, there’s no summit that can’t reached. Yet some say they can’t even try, the mountain is just too high.

Taishan is the // tallest of mountains, yet it is under // the heavens. If one climbs and climbs,// and tries and tries, there’s no summit// one cannot reach. Yet some say // they can’t even try, the mountain is // just too high.

In the twelfth month taking half of the night The spring breeze blew round and round beneath my bedding On the night the unwed came spread out at every turn I will cut this long mid-winter night in half at it’s waist And roll it and roll it and tuck it under my summer quilt So that when my love returns, I’ll unfold it to lengthen out the night

Oh that I might capture the essence of this deep midwinter night And fold it softly into the waft of a spring-moon quilt Then fondly uncoil it the night my beloved returns....Hwang Chin-i

삼동에 베옷입고 암헐에 눈비맞아 구름낀 볕뉘도 쬔적이 없건마는 서산에 해지나아니 눈물겨워 하노라. 남명 조식

Sijo in English

Composed in English Bag lady Victor P. Gendrano we called her the bag lady a fixture in the town square she sat there with a toothless smile exchanging banters with the crowd the bench is empty now, we learned a social worker picked her up

I have not slept a single night in over a month running. My mind still dwells on the moment that you left. Will I ever be able to rid myself of you and your poisoning memory? 한달넘게 너에대한 생각 두고 잠이 안와 넌 갔던 순간만에 곰곰히 생각하요 너 와 네 독살하는 추억 잊을 수 없을까 ? Brett Holden

Winter snow falls from heaven, but to melt in the spring sun Autumn leaves drift down from trees, revealing barren branches But your love, springs forth unceasing, from em’rald pools in your eyes 강설이 하늘에서 오다가 해에 녹고 단풍이 내려오면 빈 가지 남았지만 네 사랑 아무 끝없이 청 눈에서 솟는다 Mark Sawyer

My Wife, More Beautiful than Flowers By Schon Roberts She is the one, constant and steadfast, though a millenia should fade away, My love for her, an eternal flower dwelling within this one’s heart, Always in bloom, yet never withering, she is my life’s eternal companion. 화처가 花妻歌 천만년 흘러가도 아내는 그대로다 내사랑 몸에안은 영원한 꽃이어라 피어도 시들지않는 내인생의 동반자

She is the one, constant and steadfast, though a millennia should fade away, My love for her, an eternal flower dwelling within this one’s heart, Always in bloom, yet never withering, she is my life’s eternal companion. She is the one, constant and steadfast, though a millennia should fade away, My love for her, an eternal flower dwelling within this one’s heart, Always in bloom, yet never withering, she is my life’s eternal companion.

She is the one, constant and steadfast, though a millennia should fade away, My love for her, an eternal flower dwelling within this one’s heart, Always in bloom, yet never withering, she is my life’s eternal companion.

By Soojin Cho 어제는 지나간일 내일은 모르는일 추억은 그림이고 희망은 상상된다 오늘은 특별한선물 감사하게 받는다 Yesterday has passed and tomorrow brings the unknown. Memories are just pictures and hope can spark the imagination. Today is a wonderful gift to be accepted with gratitude

Andrew Wells I sit beneath this Asian tree and look up at the yellow leaves I gaze at diamond pinpoints on a fall leaf's underside Like my youth the dew vanishes with the morning’s golden rays 은행 나무 밑에서 앉아서 잎을 보고 나겹에 금강처럼 기슬을 보는데 젊음도 밤이슬처럼 아침햇빛에 없어져

Sonhee Cho 더운날 땀나는 임, 뜨거운 차 마시네 머리 위 아래까지 시냇물 졸졸흘러 희한한 이열치열의법 한국방식 이라네 Oh hot days, a sweaty man drinks hot and steamy tea. From the top of his head to his feet, a steady, running stream. Funny, yes? Treat heat with heat! The way of the Koreans.

Steven Shepherd 살 빼서 연예인처럼 미인이 되고싶다 약이든 수술이든 뭐든지 하겠다면서 운동과 좋은 식습관 지키지도 않는구나 They all want to lose weight and be pretty like a movie star Medicine or surgery, they say that they'll do anything But they don't keep the basics of exercise and eating right

이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백번 고쳐 죽어 백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 님 향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴

이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백 번 고쳐 죽어 백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 님 향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴

이몸이 죽고 죽어 일백 번 고쳐 죽어 백골이 진토되어 넋이라도 있고 없고 님향한 일편 단심이야 가실 줄이 있으랴

이몸이 Though I die 죽고 죽어 and die again 일백 번 though I die 고쳐 죽어 one hundred times 백골이 After my bones 진토되어 have turned to dust 넋이라도 whether my soul 있고 없고 exists or not 님향한 This red heart 일편 단심이야 forever loyal to my lord 가실 줄이 will never 있으랴 fade away

Write your own sijo Why? Although curriculum in Korea only studies the masters We need to be creative We need to teach to compose sijo (because that’s what students do with haiku)

Why? Although curriculum in Korea only studies the masters We need to be creative We need to teach to compose sijo (because that’s what students do with haiku) IT IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO ONLY TEACH SIJO AS A PASSIVE OBJECT; WE MUST TEACH CREAVITITY

ONE OF MINE A beautiful dream of springtime and azaleas, cherry blossoms and forsythia, And palaces, schools and ancient academies; Buddhist temples and Confucian shrines But I wake. It was the Spring Fellowship. And like a dream, it too must end.

A beautiful dream // of springtime and azaleas, cherry blossoms and // forsythia, And palaces, schools and // ancient academies; Buddhist temples // and Confucian shrines But I wake. // It was the Spring Fellowship. And like a dream, // it too must end.

It’s difficult to teach students in hangul hakkyo these days Most students would rather run and play with their friends Years later, they’ll all say they wished they had been better students. 어렵다, 한글학교 가르치는 것이여 대부분은 공부보다 친구들과 놀러가죠 나중에, 모두들후회하네 더공부 했더라면

All students in the U.S. learn haiku in their schools. Three short lines, regular rhythm; five, seven, five beats to the line. Now sijo needs to be planted in the curriculum. It’s the next step for us to take. 미국에 모든학생 초등학교에 배운데 세줄인데, 간단박자 ; 다섯, 일곱, 다섯박자. 시조야, 미국커리귤럼 넣는것이 다음계단

Marathon!, what a thrill, to train for and then to run. Miles and miles of training to reach an impossible goal. Knee surgery!, and now that great goal is just a distant memory. 마라돈 !, 힘모아서 연습하고 실천하네 몇몇길로 런닝해야 그목표를 성취했네 무릅수술 ! 위대한업적은 멀구먼 추억이네

Summary – final assignments Our goal: To teach sijo in Hangul Hakkyo But ALSO to work to plant sijo in the curriculum all across America. 1. To teach the master examples of sijo 2. To translate the masters 3. And to write our own

Sijo-izing Only make believe that I love you; Only make believe, that you love me. Others can find peace of mind In pretending, couldn’t you, couldn’t I? Might as well make believe I love you, For to tell the truth I do.

Four score and seven years ago Our forefathers brought forth upon This continent, a new nation Conceived in liberty and dedicated To the proposition that all men are created equal. We are now engaged in a great war.

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies For amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain, America America, God shed his grace on thee, From sea to shining sea.

My country, tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims pride From every mountain side Let freedom ring.

Listen my children, and you shall hear, Of the midnight ride, of Paul Revere. Twas the 19 th of April, in ‘75 Hardly a man is now alive, Who remembers that famous day and year “One if by land, two if by sea”

A man from old Nantucket Kept all his cash in a bucket His daughter he had named Nan Ran away one day with a man All the cash, that was kept in that bucket, Wouldn’t y’know, Nan tuck’ it.

Somewhere over the rainbow, Way up high, there’s a land, That I heard of, once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow Blue birds fly, Birds fly over the rainbow, Why then oh why can’t I?

Fixing a bad translation Where pure snow flakes melt Dark clouds gather threatening Where are the spring flowers abloom? A lonely figure lost in the shadow of sinking sun, I have no place to go. - Yi Saek (1328–1395), on the decline of Goryeo Kingdom.Yi SaekGoryeo -- what’s wrong? Five lines, not three (six).

백설이 잦아진 골에 구름이 머흐레라 반가온 매화는 어느 곳에 피엿는고 석양에 홀로 셔 이셔 갈 곳 몰라 하노라

백설이 잦아진 골에 구름이 머흐레라 white snow having found mountain valley clouds gather 반가온 매화는 어느 곳에 피엿는고 glad plum blossoms what place are blooming 석양에 홀로 셔 이셔 갈 곳 몰라 하노라 sunset alone standing to go where, not know to do

Where pure snow flakes melt Dark clouds gather threatening Where are the spring flowers abloom? A lonely figure lost in the shadow of sinking sun, I have no place to go. Clouds gather in the valley where white snow had found a home. Where can we find the plum blossoms that are always the first to bloom. Alone I stand in the shadows of the setting sun, not knowing which way to go.