Korean Poems

Page updated July1, 2020
Korean poetry translated by Brother Anthony available online

The page listing my published translations has become very large and perhaps difficult to navigate in a hurry. If you are looking for some Korean poetry to read online, this page might be more helpful. All the translations are by Brother Anthony of Taize (An Sonjae) and Copyright belongs to me. These translations may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Click here for some online works of fiction

1. Various Poems translated in recent years

15 much-admired poems by famous Korean poets of the earlier 20th century translated by Brother Anthony

Korean poems from the earlier 20th century selected and translated by the late Kim Jong-Gil with Brother Anthony

The first anthology of modern Korean poems in English, Grove of Azalea, edited by Y. R. Pyun, published in 1947.

The first bilingual anthology of modern Korean poems An Anthology of Modern Poems in Korea translated by Zŏng In-Sŏb, published in 1948

Poems by 30 major poets of Korea past and present, translated by Brother Anthony for the ill-fated KLTI Anthology (Table of Contents at start)

16 poems by Shin Dong-yeop 신동엽

Kim Chi-Ha's extraordinary pansori-style narrative satire The Five Bandits also translated by Brother Anthony for the KLTI anthology

Park Nohae: Biography and a few poems by a very remarkable revolutionary poet

Ko Un: At the Taedong River (a poem read at the June 2000 inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang. Korean text    English text

Poems about Gwangju from Maninbo

Poems published in volumes of Asia: The Quarterly Journal of Asian Literature
Volume 36: Two poems by Moon Chung-Hee
Volume 37: Two Poems by Bok Hyo-geun; Two Poems by Bang Min-ho
Volume 38: Two Poems by Lee Kyeong-lim; Two poems by Hwang In-chan
Volume 40: Two poems by Kim Yong-taek; Two poems by Kim Sung-gyu.
Volume 44: Two poems by Kim Sueng-ill
Volume 45: Two poems by Jang Cheol-moon
Volume 49: 5 Poems by Kim Yong-Taek
Volume 50: 5 Poems by Kim Seung-Hee
Volume 53: 5 poems by Lee Jang-Wook

The texts of the translated poems included in the picture books published by 빠우솔 Grass & Wind Publishing

Poems by contemporary Korean poets translated for the 2013 Dankook-Suwon World Writers' Festival
An Hyeon-mi 안현미
Bak Cheol 박철
Bak Deok-gyu 박덕규
Choi Dong-ho 최동호
Do Jong-hwan 도종환
Jin Eun-Young 진은영
Kim Jung-il 김중일
Kim Su-Bok 김수복
Kwak Hyo-hwan 곽효환
Lee Jang Wook 이장욱
Yi Geun-hwa 이근화

Some poems by younger contemporary poets

    Heo Yeon 허영
    Jang Seok-Nam 장석남
    Kim Kyŏng-Ju 김경주
    Kim Sa-In 김사인
    Lee Jang-Wook 이장욱 (+ Korean)
    Sim Po-Seon 심보선
    Yi Byeong-Ryul 이병률

2008 New Writing From Korea (A KLTI Anthology)   Poems by 15 younger writers (including some of the above) translated by me and by others, published in the (Table of Contents at start.)

Cordite Volume 35 ozko-hanguk-hoju Poems by 20 mostly younger Korean poets translated by Eun-Gwi Chung and Brother Anthony of Taizé   (Cordite is an Australian poetry review)

The Korean composer Lee Sang-geun (1922 - 2000) set many Korean poems to music, as either solo or choral songs. The city of Jinju (his birthplace) asked me to prepare English translations for an international edition of his works. The translations were made but the project of publishing the songs seems to have died. The translations are available here in PDF files: choral songs and solo songs; the poems are a very varied collection, some very ancient, some more modern, some by well-known poets and some by rather obscure figures.

2. Complete volumes of poetry by individual poets translated by Brother Anthony

a) Ch'ŏn Sang-Pyŏng 천상병
          Back to Heaven (with Introduction and the poet's Notes on Writing)

a) Ku Sang 구상    About Ku Sang
           Christopher's River
           Diary of the Fields
           Infant Splendor (text only); Infant Splendor with the paintings by Jung Kwang.
           Even the Knots on Quince Trees Tell Tales
           Eternity Today: Selected Poems (arranged by themes) PDF file
           Complete Poems (arranged by volume) PDF file

b) Midang So Chong-Ju 미당 서정주

The complete text of his first four published volumes:
           Flower Snake Poems
           Nightingale
           Selected Poems of So Chong-Ju
           Essence of Silla

c) Shin Kyong-Nim 신경림
Farmers' Dance (also an article about his work)

d) Kim Young-Moo 김영무
Virtual Reality

e) Chonggi Mah 마종기
Allegorical River

f) Kim Yeong-Nang 김영랑
Until Peonies Bloom: The Complete Poems of Kim Yeong-Nang in Korean and English

g) Kim Su-young 김수영
All the poems translated in Variations (2001)

3. Selections from my published volumes of poetry translations, with biographies

        구상 Ku Sang's Wasteland Poems / River and Fields / Even the Knots
        고은 Ko Un's The Sound of My Waves / Beyond Self / Ten-thousand Lives
        미 당 서정주 Midang, So Chong-ju's Early Lyrics 1941-1960
        천상병 Ch'on Sang-pyong's Back to Heaven
        김광규 Kim Kwang-kyu's Faint Shadows of Love
        신경림 Shin Kyong-nim's Farmers' Dance / Other poems
        Poems by 김수영 Kim Su-Young and Lee Si-Young
        Selected poems by 긴영무 Kim Young-Moo
        Selected poems by 마종기 Jonggi Mah
        Selected poems by 김영랑 Kim Yeong-Nang