Shijo Rhythms​ by Ttr. ​Kevin O'Rourke​  - HTML preview

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Yun Sondo (1587~1671)

 

Yun Sondo is another in the long list of poet-ministers who had turbulent political careers. A chinsa at the age of twenty-six, he did not serve under the tyrant Kwanghaegun. In 1616, he presented a memorial to the king remonstrating against corruption in the court, for which he was duly exiled to Kyonwon where he spent the next thirteen years and is said to have written his earliest poems. He was recalled in 1623 when Injo succeeded to the throne. In 1628 he was appointed personal tutor to the two young princes, Pongnim and Inp’yong. He got into trouble again during the Manchu Invasion of 1636 for failing to attend on the king. He was sent in exile to Yongdok but soon released. Over the next number of years he wrote a series of memorials to the king, which kept getting him into trouble. The final embroilment occurred over the length of the mourning period that was adjudged appropriate for Hyojong’s mother. Again Yun Sondo’s opponents carried the day and the poet was banished to Samsu where he remained until his release in 1668. Seventy-six of his shijo poems are extant.