Reflections on Translating Classical Korean Poetry

Abstract:There is a useful distinction in contemporary English poetry practice between craft and technique, where craft refers to the nuts and bolts of poetry practice—rhyme, meter, syllable count, etc., and technique refers to the inspirational side, the soul of the poet. Craft can be learned; technique is a gift.There are two radically different poetry traditions in Korea, hansi and vernacular poetry. In the case of hansi, craft is determined by the rules of Chinese poetry; but in the case of vernacular poetry craft is a very vague concept, not formally discussed until the beginning of the twentieth century when Japanese scholars became interested in hyangga and Koryŏ kayo, and the first generation of Korean sijo scholars established the framework of sijo criticism.The elaboration of a prosody of Korean poetry remains an urgent task. The tradition has been technique rather than craft based.