Baek Seok · Poems of the North / Read & listen
절망
A beautiful dream meets the weight of a morning.
A woman imagined in the colors of her clothing becomes a woman climbing a steep hill, carrying a jar and leading a child.
The published text
The ladies of Bukwan are robust The ladies of Bukwan are fair One especially fair and robust lass Her white jacket, attached with red To harmonize with the black skirt of her hanbok, To think on her was a delightful dream One morning this lass A heavy jar above her brow In her hand some child’s hand to pull A steep hill Huffing as she ascended That day’s entirety turned to sorrow
북관(北關)에 계집은 튼튼하다 북관(北關)에 계집은 아름답다 아름답고 튼튼한 계집은 있어서 흰 저고리에 붉은 길동을 달어 검정치마에 받쳐입은 것은 나의 꼭 하나 즐거운 꿈이였드니 어늬 아침 계집은 머리에 무거운 동이를 이고 손에 어린것의 손을 끌고 가펴러운 언덕길을 숨이 차서 올라갔다 나는 한종일 서러웠다
Hear the original
Korean reading by Hojae Kim. Follow the Korean text, then return to the English.
The opening praises the women of Bukwan, then settles on one woman. The speaker remembers her clothing as a delightful dream. The second movement changes the scene: weight, effort and a child’s hand replace that imagined stillness.
A heavy jar, a steep hill and a breathless ascent are ordinary details with consequences. They interrupt the speaker’s earlier picture of the woman. The poem gives us what he observes and how his day changes; it does not give us her own account of the climb.
The final sorrow lasts the entire day. Is the speaker mourning the loss of his dream, recognizing another person’s burden, or experiencing something less easily separated? Keep those possibilities beside the published words rather than choosing a biography for the woman.
Poems by Baek Seok. English translation by Peter N. Liptak. Korean reading by Hojae Kim. Artwork in the printed spreads by Choi Joongwon.
Text: Baek Seok: Poems of the North (Exile Press, 2018), pp. 164–165. Context draws on the edition’s “About the Author” (pp. 6–9), “The Palatal Poems of Baek Seok” and introduction (pp. 14–18), and chronology (pp. 316–323), alongside Liptak’s earlier research manuscript, The Palatal Poems of Baek Suk.
The reading notes are new editorial commentary based on those sources. They are not additional quotations from Liptak or a revision of his translation.
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324-page illustrated hardcover. Korean originals and English translations by Peter N. Liptak, with artwork by Choi Joongwon.
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