KU SANG THE POET - Mika

              

                     

                                  (where he's from)--->

POET: KU SANG [ 구상 ]

   Ku sang was a Korean poet, he was considered one of Korea's most respected and trusted poets. Ku Sang was raised in Wonsan, in South Hamgyong Province which is now situated in North Korea. Ku returned to the area of his up-bringing, working as a journalist and writer. His efforts to publish his poetry just after the end of the Second World War were met with resistance from the Communist authorities and he fled to the south.^[3] Ku served as assistant director of the writers' group that was deployed to cover the activities of the South Korean military during the Korean War. He also served as editor-in-chief of The Yeongnam Ilbo, editorial writer for the Kyunghyang Shinmun, and as a lecturer on poetry at Chung-Ang University. He was a member of the Korean Academy of Arts.^[4] Ku Sang died on May 11, 2005.

Ku suffered from tuberculosis.   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Sang)

One of his many works are:

오늘/ 구상

오늘도 신비의 샘인 하루를 맞는다.

이 하루는 저 강물의 한 방울이
어느 산골짝 옹달샘에 이어져 있고아득한 푸른 바다에 이어져 있듯
과거와 미래와 현재가 하나다.

이렇듯 나의 오늘은 영원 속에 이어져
바로 시방 나는 그 영원을 살고 있다.

그래서 나는 죽고 나서부터가 아니라
오늘서부터 영원을 살아야 하고
영원에 합당한 삶을 살아야 한다.

마음이 가난한 삶을 살아야 한다.
마음을 비운 삶을 살아야 한다.

Today by Ku Sang

Today again I meet a day, a well of mystery.

Like a drop of that river extends to
a spring of a valley and then to
the faraway blue sea, for this day
the past, the future, and the present are one.

So does my today extend to eternity,
and right now I am living the eternity.

So, starting from today, I should live
eternity, not after I die,
and should live a life that deserves eternity.

I should live the life of a poor heart.
I should live the life of an empty heart.

( https://jaypsong.wordpress.com/.../today-by-ku-sang/ )

The speaker in this poem is very empty, maybe a bit saddened,the speaker is very wise and a bit selfless, it seems as though instead of letting someone take the burden for something, he himself wants to take it on for them.

The imagery of this poem to me is very vivid, "drop of the river extends to a spring of a valley and then to a faraway blue sea-" appeals to my sense of vision, it draws into the details that pull this seam together. "I should live the life of a poor heart.I should live the life of an empty heart" seems as though the speaker wants to take on the burden of someone else so that he lives in the eternity now, not after death.

   The figurative language, poet Ku sang uses, play along with the normal daily meaning of "life life now", he uses "so, staring from today, I should live eternity, not after I die, and should live a life that deserves eternity", it makes you think twice about the picture in our minds about how life is supposed to be, and how we should live it, or decide by ourselves in many different ways.The meaning of "the past, the future , and the present are one" an be taken in many different perspectives, it could mean that time is one, or that we are indeed running out of time, and are making excuses for how to "take it back'or restart the clock.
  The tone of this poem is gloomy but yet objective, it does seem a bit dark, but yet not caring about the judgement from others, just simply wanting to express emotions with words and different meaning that play on our daily use of them.It is very quizzical to the mind as it does make the reader think about their own life and reflect on what we have done today or what we will do tomorrow.
  The Poem starts out with starting a new day,a new chapter, an then it ends with something along the lines of "I should live today like its my eternity and die with a life deserving of it" the poems theme to me seems like reflection of today and our future,that time is running out and we should act wisely, and live as though today is our eternity.