organizations, and arrested dissidents. Thus sub-
jugated, Korea was officially a colony of Japan.
Occupation meant that all goods and services
were intended to benefit Japan. Even though the
Japanese built new railway and communication
systems, they were intended to facilitate military
maneuvers against China. Korea became just a
workhouse for Japan. Fifty percent of all rice, the
main food staple, went to Japan. The Korean
people became poorer as Japan took over their
economy. It was into these conditions that Pak
was born in 1916. It is not surprising then that his
parents were too poor to provide him with formal
schooling or that Pak lived a primitive, rural life
until his teens. The availability of Korean poetry
in Pak’s home may have been his salvation
because it told him of a better world in nature,
which he sought in frequent treks to the moun-
tains and rivers. The Korean countryside inevita-
bly made its way into his poetry, and the influence
of the rivers is obvious given the number of his
poems about rivers or with river in the title such
as ‘‘River of August’’ and ‘‘River of Solitude’’ and
the fact that the first English language collection
of Pak’s poems was namedRiver of Life, River of
Hope.
Korean exiles in Shanghai, China, signed a
Declaration of Independence on March 1, 1919.
When word reached the homeland, the Korean
people took to the streets in celebration. The
Japanese army responded violently, killing
7,000, injuring 15,000, and arresting over 40,000
Koreans. They also destroyed houses, schools,
and churches, one at least with the congregationWHAT
DO I READ
NEXT? Song of the Universe: Earth Poems and Prose
from Around the World(2008), by Anne Row-
thorn, draws upon writings about nature from
different cultures and eras to inspire respect
and care for the earth and its creatures.
WhenRiver of Life, River of Hope: Selected
Poems of Pak Tu-Jinwas published by East-
bridge in 2005, it was the first sizeable col-
lection of Pak’s work in English. The book
includes love poems, lyric verses, and poems
of social protest.
Peter Lee’sSilence of Love: Twentieth Century
Korean Poetry, published by the University of
Hawaii Press in 1981, is a critically acclaimed
anthology of modern Korean poetry with
good translations and representational work
from every stage of each author’s career.
The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean
Poetry, edited by Peter Lee and published by
Columbia University Press in 2002, is a first-
time comprehensive collection of classical
Korean poetry of every length, period, and
topic, including material from the oral lyrical
tradition, expertly translated into English.The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean
Poetry, edited by David McCann and pub-
lished by Columbia University Press in 2004,
covers various movements and poetry of
many types, including avant-garde, opposi-
tion, folk, Buddhist, and Christian. Of par-
ticular value is the informative note about
each poet.
Frank Stewart’sThe Poem Behind the Poem:
Translating Asian Poetry(2004) is the first
book of its kind to explore the difficult proc-
ess of translating Asian poetry while attempt-
ing to maintain the sound and spirit of the
original. Multiple contributors discuss trans-
lations into English from Chinese, Japanese,
Korean, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Sanskrit.
Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea(2005)
is a young adult graphic novel about the
experiences of French cartoonist Guy Delisle
while he lived in North Korea for two months
in 2001. This book records his observations
of drab life in a totalitarian society, but
inserts humor along with many drawings.River of August