Kwang-hai. (Circa 1610 A.D.)
Kwang-hai was a usurper who murdered his half brother, Prince Yung-chang, the rightful heir to the throne. Kwang-hai then made himself king and reigned for eight years. His excesses provoked a revolt. This drove him from the throne and into exile on the island of Quelpart. During the eighteen years of his miserable imprisonment he wrote a number of poems. Their tone is savagely despairing but they have a certain individuality which sets them apart from the general work of the period.
The north wind blows the dreary autumn rain
From street to street. Around the city wall
A cold mist hangs. It drips from stone to stone,
Echoing tears.
I hear the tide roar up the lonely sand
Where tall green reeds are drenched with rain and spray.
Thinking of these, awhile, my homesick heart
Forgets her fears.
Dreaming, I wander up and down the shore,
But not one passing vessel speaks to me
And not one echo from the silent hills
Answers my call.
I know not if my State goes up or down.
Nothing remains for me but wind and waves
Or blinding mists that, like my weary tears,
Drip from the wall.