What flower ever blooms without swaying?
Every beautiful flower in this world
Has bloomed while swaying,
Has straightened its stem while swaying.
Mr. Do Jongwhan, born in Cheongju, he is one of Korea’s representative lyric poets, and is known as a poet who understands nature as if it were human, and humanity as if it were nature. His prose is filled with deep and lucid insight into both nature and human beings. He has received numerous literary awards, including the Sin Dong-yeop Literary Award, the Jeong Ji-yong Literary Award, the Grand Prize in Literature of the Yun Dong-ju Award, the Baekseok Literary Award, the Gongcho Literary Award, the Park Yong-cheol Literary Award, the Shin Seok-jeong Literary Award, the Catholic Literary Award, and the Pyeonun Literary Award. He also served as a member of the National Assembly and as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism from 2017 to 2019. His poetry collections include You, the Hollyhock Flower, Flowers Bloom While Swaying, The Road to Haein, Between Three and Five O’Clock, The Time Farthest from Noon, and I Shall Go Toward Silence. His prose collections include Every Person Is a Flower, When Will You Come to This Forest? and How Could I Have Fragrance Without You?.
Flowers Bloom While Swaying
What flower ever blooms without swaying?
Every beautiful flower in this world
Has bloomed while swaying,
Has straightened its stem while swaying.
What love ever journeys on without being shaken?
What flower ever blooms without being drenched?
Every radiant flower in this world
Has bloomed while being soaked again and again,
Has warmly opened its petals in the wind and rain.
What life ever goes on without being drenched?
흔들리며 피는 꽃
흔들리지 않고 피는 꽃이 어디 있으랴
이 세상 그 어떤 아름다운 꽃들도
다 흔들리면서 피었나니
흔들리면서 줄기를 곧게 세웠나니
흔들리지 않고 가는 사랑이 어디 있으랴
젖지 않고 피는 꽃이 어디 있으랴
이 세상 그 어떤 빛나는 꽃들도
다 젖으며 젖으며 피었나니
바람과 비에 젖으며 꽃잎 따뜻하게 피웠나니
젖지 않고 가는 삶이 어디 있으랴
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