Transcendence
One way to express the overall theme of ‘‘River
of August’’ is to use the word transcendence. The
river has passed through a time of agony and a
stage of remembrance of both the bad events and
the idealism of the distant past and is now mov-
ing onward, motivated by a determination never
again to allow such degradation, inspired by
cultural pride, and committed to a legacy and a
future of ideals. Transcendence is moving from
one state of existence to another, and the course
of the river has definitely changed through the
years.
Style
Occasional Poem
‘‘River of August’’ is an occasional poem, that
is, one written upon the occasion of an event. It
was not typical of Pak to write occasional
poems until the early 1960s when he wrote a
number of them. ‘‘River of August’’ is not
about an occasion in 1963 when it was written,
but rather it goes back to the occasion of the
end of World War II and the liberation of
Korea from Japanese rule. Most of Pak’s work
has a Korean specificity to it, along with a sense
of the cosmic and a message pertinent to current
times. This style is obvious in ‘‘River of August’’
since the poem deals specifically with Korea, its
history, and its idealism as encouragement to
Koreans in 1963 to find again their lofty goals
as a nation.
In his early work, Pak used allegory to mask
his patriotic zeal and ideals. In ‘‘River of August,’’
though, he uses the personified river to give the
force of river waters, the inevitability of the jour-
ney to the ocean, to his message of patriotism and
idealism. It was typical of Pak to use nature
imagery to represent hope for a new life, and
rivers are a recurring symbol in his work. Blood
and betrayal are frequent topics. Other stylistic
qualities common to Pak are a positive energy,
repetition, a forceful rhythm, and long prose-like
lines interspersed with shorter lines for impact.
All of these practices can be found in ‘‘River of
August.’’
A winding river in a beautiful landscape(Image copyright Jaroslaw Grudzinski, 2009. Used under license from Shutterstock.com)
River of August
