Finding poetic inspiration in the stones is,
to say the least, unusual. However it is natu-
ral that Pak Tu-jin should find the stones
symbolic that have been eroded of their cor-
ruptible ingredients and smoothed of their
sharp edges by the ever-flowing clean water.
Their symbolic meaning is all too evident: the
slow shaping of haphazard matter into a
meaningful form, the shaping of words into
the poem, the painstaking formation of the
human animal into the spiritual man, the ago-
nizing process of maturity of Pak Tu-jin’s
poetic self.
In an important sense, all the stones with
‘‘biography’’ are so many self-portraits of Pak
Tu-jin himself. Their ‘‘biographies’’ are parts of
his own biography. They reflect, or deflect, his
inner self, the stones becoming alive with his
meanings.
‘‘Let a green bird fly forth from you!’’ cries
he to a immobile stone like a magician pro-
nouncing his mighty spell, and, lo, a green bird
in the shape of a poem takes flight. The stone
becomes a bird, immobility becoming flight,
matter becoming poetry. The ancient ritual of
the magic known as poetry is reenacted by the
master magus.
Source:Yi Sang-So ̆p, ‘‘A Reading of Seven Poems by Pak
Tu-jin,’’ inKorea Journal, Vol. 21, No. 11, November
1981, pp. 39–46.
Sources
Jaihiun Kim,Modern Korean Poetry, Jain, 1995, p. 122.
Korean Literature Today, Vol. 1, No. 3, Winter 1996, n.p.
Lee, Peter H., ed.,A History of Korean Literature, Cam-
bridge University Press, 2009, p. 421.
———, ‘‘Introduction,’’ inModern Korean Literature: An
Anthology, compiled and edited by Peter H. Lee, Univer-
sity of Hawaii Press, 1990, p. xxi.
Pak Tu-Jin, ‘‘River of August,’’ inKorea Journal, Vol. 5,
No. 2, February 1, 1965, p. 35.
Wordsworth, William, ‘‘Tintern Abbey,’’ inThe Norton
Anthology of English Literature, Vol. 2, 7th ed., edited by
M. H. Abrams, Norton, 2000, pp. 235, 236.
Yi Sang-so ̆p (also known as Sangsup Lee), ‘‘A Reading of
Seven Poems by Pak Tu-jin,’’ inKorea Journal, Vol. 21,
No. 11, November 1981, pp. 39, 46.
Further Reading
Caprio, Mark,Japanese Assimilation Policies in Colonial
Korea, 1910–1945, University of Washington Press, 2009.
Although the Japanese had policies of assimila-
tion for the Koreans during the occupation, their
programs were not enacted. Instead, segregation
existed in schools and housing. Koreans lived as
second-class citizens with few opportunities for
advancement until Japanese men left for military
service. This book discusses that situation and
Korean views about colonial existence.
Cumings, Bruce,Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern
History, Norton, 2005.
Providing a background on ancient times and the
influences of China and Japan, this history covers
the effects of the Japanese occupation from 1910
to 1945, the growth of democracy in the South,
and the isolation of the North. In addition, Cum-
ings looks at the life for Korean Americans.
Kim-Gibson, Dai Sil,Silence Broken: Korean Comfort
Women, Mid-Prairie Books, 1999.
One of the worst humiliations of Japanese control
was the forced prostitution of Korean women to
Japanese soldiers during World War II. This
book records oral history interviews and provides
some background information. The documentary
based on this material was broadcast on PBS.
O’Neill, William L.,World War II: A Student Companion,
Oxford University Press, 1999.
An easy-to-read collection of concise biograph-
ical and topical articles are arranged here alpha-
betically and cross-referenced. This book also
contains a bibliography, illustrations, and maps.
Yo ̃ngho Ch’oe, Peter H. Lee, and W. Theodore de Bary,
eds.,Sources of Korean Tradition, Vol. 2: From the Sixteenth
to the Twentieth Centuries, Columbia University Press, 2000.
This collection of primary sources such as govern-
ment documents, letters, and personal essays
speak to the social, intellectual, and religious tra-
ditions that made Korea the civilization it is. The
book starts with the mid-Chosin dynasty and ends
with the 1998 presidential inaugural address.
Yu, Ch’i-jin and Man-Sik Ch’ae,Korean Drama Under
Japanese Occupation, translated and introduction by Jin-
hee Kim, Homa & Sekey Books, 2004.
While Pak and other poets refused to publish
during the war, these two prominent Korean
playwrights dared to publicly voice anti-Japanese
sentiments during the occupation in three plays
that are presented in translation in this volume.
Zong, In-Sob,Guide to Korean Literature, Hollym Inter-
national, 1983.
This introduction to the breadth of an ancient
culture and its literature includes folk tales,
drama, music, and dance.
River of August
