The house of iconic Korean poet Ko Un looks like a poetic garden where verses dance with colors
By Ashraf Aboul-Yazid
In an exceptional meeting, I had the chance to receive the great Anthology dedicated to the iconic Korean poet Ko Un celebrating his 90th birthday.
The front book cover of the Anthology with the title ‘He is Beyond Our Longing’, which is 440-page long, has the contribution from 202 poets, artists, both home and abroad, and intellectuals and cultural people.
It was wonderful moments when Ko Un read the poem I dedicated to him on this occasion, publish in pages 190-191, commenting that everyone loved it.
I wrote
Ko Un | The Man Who Climbed the Himalayas
The man who climbed the Himalayas
To pluck clouds from the grove of Tibet
Coloring some of them to make butterflies
Distilling others to become rain
Irrigating his notebook by words
In a heavy rain
Nobody feels
A lonely drop of water.
From Kathmandu I was watching
The man who climbed the Himalayas
My plane was flying by
As he was making snow birds with gloves
He whispered in their mouth, sending them, joyfully, flying towards me,
Tweeting his name.
The man who climbed the Himalayas
His feet drew a map of love and hope
On the white ground
Oh! He’s building something!
Is it a tower? Or is it a pagoda?
Is it a monastery? Or is it a temple?
Is it a church? Or is it a mosque?
No. It’s a heart, where
A thousand and one life live.
The commemorative anthology ends with my words: ”My dear great poet Ko Un is my mentor. When I was asked to name a great poet, the only name that came to mind was the iconic name of Ko Un. Although we only met once, I have been living with his Words for many years.”
Thanks for his wife, Lee Sang-Wha, the Emeritus Professor at Chung-Ang University, who translated my poem and notes into Korean. She has published six translations into Korean of literary works, including two of works by Gary Snyder. She has collaborated with Brother Anthony on several volumes of translations of work by Ko Un.
One of the surprises Lee Sang-Wha had in the 90th birthday party was giving a book she wrote to her partner. The front book cover of her love poems, dedicated to Ko Un as ‘a surprise’, the title is Joy with Ko Un. The book’s title and painting are hers (the title of her painting is Ko Un’s Hands. He is writing on a blank page against the sky).
We had a special time to know a lot of our poet, as an artist and a calligrapher, the two couple will definitely have a daughter who has become an artist herself. The house looks like a poetic gardens where verses dance with colors, the portraits created by Sang Wha, the hanged calligraphy stripes by Ko Un and the paintings in acrylic by their daughter.
On a nice corner there was the final volume of English Maninbo, published on Ko Un’s birthday to celebrate his ninety lives.
The celebration took place on July 26 in a huge Ecology School auditorium in Yang Pyeong, near Seoul, and some 200 people– poets and writers, artists, intellectuals, cultural people, gathered from all parts of Korea to celebrate Ko Un’s birthday. The place was decorated with many placards made with calligraphy and Ko Un’s photos.
The ceremony and celebration lasted for about 5 hours with 2 Parts, with several congratulatory speeches, songs traditional and modern, including their national beautiful pop song ‘Senoya Senoya’ set to Ko Un’s lyrics. (There are 3 songs set to Ko Un’s beautiful, simple and deep lyrics, ‘Senoya Senoya’, ‘Autumn Letter’, ‘A Little Boat’, all much loved by Korean people.), playing the traditional instruments, dances, with wonderful Korean food and drinks, all through the evening.
Ko Un made a brilliant, much -loved speech, this time concentrating on the ocean waves. At the end of the First Part with Ko Un’s speech, SangWha went up onto the platform, as nobody knew nor expected, to dedicate her secret book of love poems which she had secretly prepared with the publisher for months to Ko Un, an utter surprise, and it was received with great cheers and much pleasure by the participants. Ko Un was really surprised!
I also say Ko Un’s great grand epic of 1100-page ‘Cheong'(Song of Sim Cheong) last autumn, and 3 new poetry books will be out in the spring this year.
We left the home, for a wider world, visiting the temple with future giant Buddha, the Gyronggi Province Museum, and the Korean Folk Village, which celebrates its 50th anniversary. This certain village was the spot I visited almost 17 years ago. Inside, I recalled the studio I had its photos, while old houses reminded himself with the house he was born and raised in. It has been a full day, from noon to sunset but it summed up a whole life, with love and sincerity.
Related article: Korean poet Ko Un publishes his own Scripture
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Ashraf Aboul-Yazid is a renowned Egyptian poet, journalist, novelist, travelogue writer and translator. He is author of around three dozen books and Editor-in-Chief of Silk Road Literature Series.
