Category Archives: Poetry

詩 經 Shi Jing – The Book of Odes

The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).IIIIIIIV Section I — 國風 Lessons from the statesChapter 3 — 邶風 The odes of Bei Shijing I. 3. (41) 其虛其邪既亟只且 惠而好我攜手同車 莫赤匪狐莫黑匪烏 其虛其邪既亟只且 惠而好我攜手同歸 北風其喈雨雪其霏 其虛其邪既亟只且 惠而好我攜手同行 北風其涼雨雪其雱 北風 Cold blows the north wind ;Thick falls the snow.Ye who love and regard me,Let us join hands and go together.Is it a time for delay ?The urgency is … Continue reading

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사랑의물리학

사랑의물리학 –김인육 질량의 크기는 부피와 비례하지 않는다 제비꽃같이 조그마한 그 계집애가꽃잎같이 하늘거리는 그 계집애가지구보다 더 큰 질량으로 나를 끌어당긴다.순간, 나는뉴턴의 사과처럼사정없이 그녀에게로 굴러 떨어졌다쿵 소리를 내며, 쿵쿵 소리를 내며 심장이하늘에서땅까지아찔한 진자운동을 계속하였다첫사랑이었다. The Physics of Love – Kim In-Yook Mass is not proportional to volume. That girl as small as a violet,that girl who floats like a petalpulls me toward her with a forcegreater than the Earth’s mass. In an instant,like Newton’s … Continue reading

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The Death of Allegory

The Death of Allegory BY BILLY COLLINS I am wondering what became of all those tall abstractions that used to pose, robed and statuesque, in paintings and parade about on the pages of the Renaissance displaying their capital letters like license plates. Truth cantering on a powerful horse, Chastity, eyes downcast, fluttering with veils. Each one was marble come to life, a thought in a coat, Courtesy bowing with one hand always … Continue reading

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Lines – William Wordsworth

Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. by William Wordsworth (July 13, 1798) Reading by Michael Sheen* Five years have past; five summers, with the length Of five long winters! and again I hear These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs With a sweet inland murmur. —Once again Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs, Which on a wild secluded scene impress … Continue reading

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王維 Wang Wei (701-761) 終南別業 (Zhongnan Mountain Retreat)

中岁颇好道,晚家南山陲。 兴来每独往,胜事空自知。 行到水穷处,坐看云起时。 偶然值林叟,谈笑无还期。 WANG WEI (699-761) “Zhongnan Mountain Retreat” “Zhongnan Mountain Retreat,” by Wang Wei In my middle years I came to much love the Way and late made my home by South Mountain’s edge. When the mood comes upon me, I go off alone, and have glorious moments all to myself. I walk to the point where a stream ends, and sitting, watch when the clouds rise. By chance I … Continue reading

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Mediterráneo…

Mediterráneo de Joan Manuel Serrat Quizá porque mi niñez sigue jugando en tu playa, y escondido tras las cañas duerme mi primer amor, llevo tu luz y tu olor por donde quiera que vaya, y amontonado en tu arena guardo amor, juegos y penas. Perhaps because my childhood keeps playing on your beach, and hidden behind the canes my first love sleeps, I carry your light and your scent wherever I go, … Continue reading

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登鸛雀樓 (Ascending Stork Tower)

白日依山盡 黃河入海流 欲窮千里目 更上一層樓

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千字文 (Qiānzìwén) Daily lessons

  Learning Tools 千字文 (Qiānzìwén) 1000 characters with Pinyin   千字文 (Qiānzìwén) 250 lines with Pinyin   千字文 (125 verses & Pinyin & Translation)

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As rosas amo dos jardins de Adónis

As rosas amo dos jardins de Adónis, Essas volucres amo, Lídia, rosas, Que em o dia em que nascem, Em esse dia morrem. I love the roses of the Adonis Gardens, I love these ephemeral roses, Lydia, Which, on the day they are born, On that very same day die. A luz para elas é eterna, porque Nascem nascido já o Sol, e acabam Antes que Apolo deixe O seu curso visível. The light is … Continue reading

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얼마나 아름다운 세상…

(Juno’s Passing) The sky above, crystalline jet velvet lost in the oblivion of space but for the diamond droplets sparkling so near, so far … and the pearlescent moon, pendant… Underfoot, luminous snow— the storm has come the storm has pass’d the chilled earth gently sighs ** ‘neath it’s ephemeral cloak voluminous; snow… My lips surprise me relaxing into a … smile…?  and then, muttering, sighing: “얼마나 아름다운 세상…!”

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The Perfection of 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (Fated to Love You)

School of Comedy After the finale of that most enchanting of romantic comedies, 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (Fated to Love You), I found myself, like many fellow aficionados who had been absorbed in the story of Lee Geon and Kim Mi Yeong, uninterested in watching any other productions despite KDrama’s abundant offerings, including titles on my “to watch” list. I remember something like this happening once before when, after my initial introduction to, and frenzied consumption of KDrama, my appetite for … Continue reading

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Love in 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (Fated to Love You)

Every once in a blue moon something comes along that has you so entranced, so engaged, so… moved… that it leaves you at a loss to comprehend just what is happening to you. As you try to make sense of it, it sparkles and shines with every gesture. Words issuing from it are musical pearls of poetic truth that imbue the very air with a richness never before imaginable to your dopamine-saturated mind. Thus … Continue reading

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我的快樂 [Wǒ de kuàilè] (My Happiness)

Learning to read Hanzi with the coolest series of jazzed up homoioteleuton:   錦繡二重唱 – 我的快樂 歌詞 作詞:陳韋伶/瑞業 作曲:陳韋伶  Wǒ de kuàilè – Jin Xiu Er Chong Chang Authors: Chen Wei Ling Composer: Chen Wei Ling  徘了徊了走了 錯了哭了痛了 累了倦了睏了 煩了亂了冷了 都是真的 Páile huáile zǒuliǎo cuòle kūle tòngle lèile juànle kùnle fánle luànle lěngle dōu shì zhēn de 瘋的想的念的 不安的焦慮的 複雜的夢過的 擁有的失去的 怎麼忘呢 fēng de xiǎng de niàn de bù’ān dì jiāolǜ de … Continue reading

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김수한무 거북이와 두루미 (A Fable)

“김수한무 거북이와 두루미 삼천갑자 동방삭 치치카포 사리사리센타 워리워리 세브리깡 무두셀라 구름이 허리케인 담벼락 서생원에 고양이 바둑이는 돌돌이“. So the story goes: A long, long time ago, a man who was descended from a long line of only sons per generation became father to a baby boy. So he consulted a name-specialist to give his only son a name symbolic of a long life. But no matter what the name-specialist suggested, the man insisted, “longer… make … Continue reading

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추락: 임재범

추락: 임재범 /Im Jae-bum 어둠이 느껴져 난 그래서 편한걸 저 바람을 재워 찬 기운이 날 깨워 제발 깨지마 어차피 난 다시 떨어질 테니까 아무리 걸어도 눈 뜨면 제자리야 끝이다 서 보면 또 다시 처음이야 시간은 내 목을 죄이며 쫓아오고 그러니 이렇게 /// 어쩜 더 높은 곳으로 올라야 했나 그만큼 더욱더 깊숙히 묻혀질 테니까 기어서라도 난 살아내려고 했어 내 모든 열정이 언제나 무시돼도 날 위로해 주며 또 살아내려 했어 난 그걸 후회해 /// … Continue reading

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성균관 스캔들 – ’tis not poetry

Without love for the people and concerns for the nation, ’tis not poetry. Without aching for our era and outrage at the world, ’tis not poetry. Without striving for good and guarding against evil, this too, is not poetry. attr. Jeong Yak Yong (Sungkyunkwan Scandal)

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풀 꽃 (Grass Flower)

  풀 꽃-  나태주 자세히 보아야 예쁘다 오래 보아야 사랑스럽다 너도 그렇다 ________ Grass Flower  by Na Taeju You have to look closely to see its loveliness You have to gaze for a long time to discover that it is lovable You are just like that. Courtesy  학교 2013 (School 2013) See also: Love in 운명처럼 널 사랑해 (Fated to Love You)

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아름다운사람

And now this, from 내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam Soon): 아름다운사람 서유석 작사 : 서유석 작곡 : 서유석 편곡 : 서유석 장난감을 받고서 그것을 바라보고 얼싸안고 기어이 부숴버리는 내일이면 벌써 그를 준 사람조차 잊어버리는 아이처럼 오 오오오 오 오 오오오 오 오 오오오 오 아름다운 나의 사람아~ 당신은 내가 드린 내마음을 고운 장난감처럼 조그만 손으로 장난하고 내마음이 고민에 잠겨있는 돌보지않는 나의 여인아 나의 사람아 오 오오오 오 아름다운 나의 사람아   … Continue reading

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Series or Feature Film? Hwang Jin Yi and Shin Yun Bok, a Case Study.

who tells the better story? – who tells the story better? It’s one thing to watch two kdrama adaptations of the same story, like MBC’s  The Return of Iljimae and SBS’s  Iljimae. It’s quite another to have at your disposal feature film interpretations of stories already elaborated in full length dramas as happens with two artistic geniuses of the Joseon era whose lives are dramatized in the television series Hwang Jin Yi and Painter of … Continue reading

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Playing Favorites… the KDrama and Film ‘Must See’ List

Long overdue is the time to tip the nib of my (virtual) pen to those dramas and feature films to which I have been awarding my highest rating, three stars.  If you wish to see a comprehensive list of titles I’ve explored since setting off on this adventure, you may find it in “Curio in KDramaland… (or, Through the Sageuk Lens)“. You will also find the key to the asterisk and numeric annotation. … Continue reading

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Curio in KDramaland… (or, Through the Sageuk Lens)

I have been contemplating the virtues of the well made sageuk and what its persistent appeal to me (and maybe even to other viewers) might mean. Surely, something… It turns out that while I apparently have watched only one third as many sageuks as contemporary fictions (from comedies to melodramas and everything in between), I am more disposed to want to collect historical dramas than I am contemporary fictions. When it comes … Continue reading

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그 겨울, 바람이 분다 (That Winter, the Wind Blows)

Betsy Hp over at Creating Volumes posed a curious question in her recent notes about That Winter, the Wind Blows (그 겨울, 바람이 분다), a drama that follows the vicissitudes of Oh Soo’s oh-so-complicated life. Our hero is a con-man — a playboy, a gambler and a smart ass — and he is posing as the long lost brother of the blind, orphaned heiress to a mega-fortune. If he can pull off the … Continue reading

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Words…

Stand in awe of the woven wonder of Words: these that are nought but wisps crafted of as much substance as wraiths that haunt the dreams of mortals; And once uttered, vanish into that realm whence the insubstantial spectres that muddle mens’ minds draw forth; for ‘though perceived, bear no corporeal weight and are nothing to the touch. Yet never was sword crafted so keen and jaggéd — that so swiftly slid … Continue reading

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The Praise of Men…

John Milton could not have said it better when he summed up the folly of vanity: all who in vain things Built their fond hopes of glory or lasting fame… Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find Fit retribution, empty as their deeds. (III 448-54) When the second edition of his epic poem Paradise Lost appeared in 1674, Milton had raised hell enough to call it a day. No doubt … Continue reading

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Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος…

Kar chakruok Wach ne nitie, kendo Wach ne nikod Nyasaye, kendo Wach ne en Nyasaye. Hapo mwanzo, kabla ya kuwapo kitu kingine cho chote, aliku wapo Neno. Huyo Neno alikuwa pamoja na Mungu, naye alikuwa Mungu. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Au commencement était la Parole, et la Parole était avec Dieu, et la Parole était Dieu. in principio erat … Continue reading

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