Born in 1920, Cho Ji Hoon is a canonical poet of modern Korea and a renowned scholar of Korean aesthetics, culture and history. Written in a modernist free-verse form, his poetry is deeply rooted in Korean soil, imbued with the sounds, smells and colors of pre-industrial Korea. His poetry is also a conduit to Sijo literary poetry that began 12th century onward, resonating with form and rhythmic style is known for. In 1939, Cho Ji Hoon’s first poem appeared in the literary magazine MoonJang. In 1946, his poetry appeared in the collection, Cheongnok Jip (청록집) along with the works of Park Mokwohl and Pak Doo Zin. The three were known as “Cheongnokpa,” or the “Green Deer Poets.” A professor of Korean language and literature at Korea University for 20 years, Cho Ji Hoon served as the president of the Korean cultural society affiliated with the university and president of the Korean poet’s association. A recipient of literary award, he published five poetry collections, as well as many books related to Korean literature and culture. He died in 1968.

REFLECTION by Cho Ji Hoon, translated by Sekyo Nam Haines

In this dark night, someone stands at my window,
stares into my room. Who is it?

Not a word, only heart-piercing eyes,
someone is there to protect me. Who is it?

The night’s pitch-darkness wakens all things. My secrets,
unable to hide, flash in the blue phosphorescent light.

The many nights, when I sweat from crushing anxiety,
someone stands at my window, keeps watch over me.

O, whoever keeps a watch over me every night,
by dawn, when I finally slaughter all my guilty thoughts

and open my window, like opening my heart, then,
I see him fade away into the whitening darkness. Who is it?

 

Sekyo Nam Haines immigrated from South Korea to the U.S. in 1973 as a registered nurse. She received her BA in American literature and writing at Goddard College ADP. She continued her study of English literature at the Harvard Extension school and poetry with the late Ottone M. Riccio in Boston, MA.  Her first book, Bitter Seasons’ Whip: The complete Poems of Lee Yuk was published by Tolsun Books (2022). Her poems and translations have appeared in Lily Poetry Review, Off the Coast, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Anomaly, and Guernica, Common, Lit Magazine and Gulf Coast Review and elsewhere. Sekyo lives in Cambridge, MA.

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