lengths vary with line breaks coming according
to the emphasis the poet wants to place on a
thought. Of course, the meaning should remain
the same. Bad translations can really make a
mess of a poem, but a good translation allows
people around the world to appreciate the art of
the original poet.
Stanza 1
In the first line, the character, River of August,
claps its hands and writhes. The initial reaction
to ‘‘claps its hands’’ might be an interpretation
that the river is clapping its hands in joy or in
appreciation of a performance. However, the
appearance of the word ‘‘writhes’’ immediately
after causes the reader to wonder how the two
actions can go together. A little thought brings
an image of a person who claps in reaction to
bad news and says ‘‘Oh, no!’’ followed by a
wringing of the hands and the writhing that is
explained in line 2 as an expression of agony.
Writheis set off as a one-word sentence so the
reader will focus on the depth of the pain. The
third line, however, says that the river subsides,
that is, it calms down to meditate on the memo-
ries listed in the second stanza. Pak uses the
repetition of the phrase ‘‘River of August’’ at
the start of each line for rhythm and to securely
establish the personification of the river and the
importance of August 1945 in the history of
Korea.
Stanza 2
In this two-line stanza, the river remembers all
the sadness and violence of Japanese occupation
and World War II: the sighs of despair, the tears
of grief, and the blood and death of warfare. The
word ‘‘yesterday’’ is not the usual vague refer-
ence to times past, but involves more immediacy
because the war has just ended. Pak separates
‘‘death of yesterday’’ perhaps to emphasize
death, but perhaps also to make the point that
the dying is done, and the war is over.
Stanza 3
As a nature poet, Pak often included animals in
his verse. In particular, he used sinister animals
for situations in which the weaker creature
stands aside while the stronger ones fight over
the choicest meats. Korea was the weaker neigh-
bor and thus helpless victim of the stronger
Japan. The river remembers the split tongue of
the snake because in Asian lore, the snake sym-
bolizes cunning and deceit. Native Americans
refer to lying as speaking with a forked tongue,
and apparently Pak makes the same comparison
since a split tongue can say two different things
and thus deceive. The wolf is a predatory animal
that would have blood on its teeth after devour-
ing its prey. The treatment of the Koreans by the
Japanese from 1904 to 1945 was such that they
certainly felt deceived and preyed upon. Fortu-
nately, the snake and wolf died in the war
because of the combined wrath and prayers of
their enemies who betrayed the Japanese just as
they had been betrayed. This time, Pak put only
the words ‘‘of yesterday’’ on the final line of the
stanza, perhaps to emphasize that finally all the
horror is behind the Koreans.Stanza 4
At this point, the mood of the river changes as it
shifts from memories of war and exploitation
to those of another time when the Koreans had
high aspirations. The word ‘‘sublimation’’ means
to divert one’s instincts from the primitive to
something socially and culturally more evolved.
Therefore, the river is remembering how Korea
grew from ancient times into a sophisticated
society where poetry was cherished and the peo-
ple reached for the stars (their aspirations). In
the past Koreans strived for greatness, and as for
other people, this lofty goal was not achieved.
Nonetheless, the effort reveals the optimism of
the Korean people. In Asian literature, the stars
and moon are more common images than the
sun, but Pak uses both in this stanza by citing the
group of stars composing the Milky Way, and
the star that serves as the Earth’s Sun within the
Milky Way.Stanza 5
The indefinite pronoun ‘‘It’’ that opens this stanza
stands for the river. The first two lines mean that
the river of Korea must move from yesterday into
the here and now of today with a commitment to
looking forward. The word ‘‘tomorrow’’ is set off
by itself on the second line to stress the impor-
tance of moving on and planning for the future.
The message of the third line is that the victory
against Japan has to be shared among all Kore-
ans. There will be no return to the monarchy and
class system of the past. After nearly twenty years
of working for a democracy, Pak remained hope-
ful. His personal belief was that a person who
believes in miracles and strives to fulfill noble
desires lives a meaningful and honorable life,
even if the miracle never comes.River of August