Word Wednesday
Yun Dong Ju's "Seo Si"
Korean to English Translation
As usual, today is Wednesday, which means we're halfway done with the week! It just feels like yesterday when I complained that it was Monday. Wow, time flies by so quickly! Anyway, let's move on to Word Wednesday, the day I translate something from Korean/English/French to another language.
Today I decided to translate Yun Dong Ju's short poem, "Seo Si". As I was not sure what "Seo Si" meant here, I asked my mom, but she said it's the actual title of the poem. Apparently it's one of those Korean words that just doesn't have a suitable translation!
Korean Version (original version)
서 시
윤 동 주
죽는 날까지 하늘을 우러러
한 점 부끄럼이 없기를
잎새에 이는 바람에도
나는 괴로워 했다.
별을 노래하는 마음으로
모든 죽어 가는 것을 사랑해야지
그리고 나한테 주어진 길을
걸어가야겠다.
오늘밤에도 별이 바람에 스치운다.
English Version
Seo Si
Yun Dong Ju
Till the day I die, I gaze I at the sky
I have not a single shame
Even when a leaf moves in the wind
I feel guilty.
With the mind of a humming star
I will love every dying thing
And in the road I was given
I will walk.
Even tonight the stars are shaking in the wind.
So this is one of those poems that are extremely difficult to analyze and translate. The translations just simply don't carry the same feeling of the original poem! That's why, to redeem the beauty of this poem, I decided to add some analysis and tell you the meaning of this poem.
Till the day I die, I gaze I at the sky
I have not a single shame
Even when a leaf moves in the wind
I feel guilty.
Here, the author is saying that he has never committed any sins. He is so clean in his actions that he can look at the sky and not be embarrassed/ashamed of things he had done. He uses hyperbole to emphasize how clean he was by saying "Even when a leaf moves in the wind; I feel guilty". As you guys know, a leaf constantly moves even if there is slight wind! The author is showing how that even one little event could make him feel instantly guilty.
Later in the second stanza, the author goes on to mention how he will love every dying thing and walk the path he was given. Through personification ("humming star", here humming means singing) and imagery, the author continues to talk about the 'cleanliness' of the person. This person has cleansed his/her mind and has reached the point where now he/she lets everything to happen freely. He/she will simply continue to walk the road that was given to him/her, and love every single dying thing.
As mentioned in the previous poem I analyzed, Korean poets tend to use a lot of references to nature. I find that beautiful. Nature is used for everything -- hyperbole, imagery, personification, allusion -- and gives the readers that freshness! For example, whenever I finish reading a Korean poem, I feel suddenly fresh and cleansed.
Overall I think this poem is talking about a human's sinless life and how peaceful it is. Perhaps I'm translating this wrong (I'm sure the analysis on Korean websites say differently from what I'm saying), but poems are not about translating "correctly". Everyone gets a different meaning from poems. What I thought while reading this poem is my opinion -- not necessarily right but not wrong, either.
This poem was difficult to translate, since there are some words that just can't be translated easily. The last sentence, "Even tonight the stars are shaking in the wind." came with a lot of trouble! Even now I'm still not satisfied with the translation, but I just can't seem to find the right words to describe the Korean version!
About the Author
윤 동 주, Yun Dong Ju
Fighter for independence, poet, and nicknamed "Hae Whan" is a man named Yun Dong Ju (born in December 30, 1917 and died on February 16, 1945). Ju is known for many poems such as "Southern Sky" "Seashell" "The Sky, Wind, Star, and Poem", etc., which he wrote in his late teens and early 20s. His later half of his life was spent fighting for independence from Japan. Ju was convicted on February 22, 1944 and was sentenced to over 2 years in a jail in Japan. At age 29, a year later after being convicted, he was announced dead.
