The Fisherman's Calendar by Yun Sondo - HTML preview

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WŎNDANGNI (Five character)




This poem is a mix of Yulshi with P’agyŏk features. The rhymes (kol/wal/il/pul) are all deflected, hence incorrect, although they sound correct in the Korean. Tones are not matched. There is parallel expression in the second and third couplets, even if the third couplet in English does not reflect it.



Chinju, Wŏndangni:

a wayfarer asks for a meal.

A servant comes out, says there’s no one at home;

a child comes out, says the family is in trouble.

I never saw the like in Chosŏn before;

it must be the only house of its kind in Kyŏngsang Province. 

We’re supposed to be the refined people from the East; 

whatever happened to fine feeling?