Carpe Diem Tokubetsudesu #57 Sijo, the ancient poem from Korea

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

My dad is recovering great from his heart attack of last Sunday. I am glad that the cardiologist has planned his release from the hospital this week. Thank you all for your warm thoughts, prayers and love.

In today’s Tokubetsudesu episode I would like to introduce to you SIJO an ancient Korean short poetry form.
Sijo share a common history with haiku and other Japanese forms. Sijo is a modern term for a Korean style of lyrical poetry, originally called tanga (literally, "short song"). The sijo strongly resembles Japanese haiku in having a strong foundation in nature in a short profound structure. Bucolic, metaphysical and astronomical themes are often explored. The lines average 14-16 syllables, for a total of 44-46. There is a pause in the middle of each line, so in English they are sometimes printed in six lines instead of three. Most poets follow these guidelines very closely although there are longer examples. Either narrative or thematic, this lyric verse introduces a situation or problem in line 1, development (called a turn) in line 2, and a strong conclusion beginning with a surprise (a twist) in line 3, which resolves tensions or questions raised by the other lines and provides a memorable ending. 

An example by Kwon Homun (1532-1587):

"The wind is pure and clear,
the moon is pure and bright.

The bamboo grove within the pines
is pure of worldly cares:

But a lute and piles of scrolls
can make it purer still"

Bamboo Groove

Another example by Yi Saek (1328-1396):

"the white snow has left the valleys
where the clouds are lowering

Is it true that somewhere
the plum trees have happily blossomed?

I stand here alone in the dusk
and do not know where to go"

Plum Trees

Korean poetry can be traced at least as far back as King Yuri's Song of Yellow Birds (17BC), but its roots are in still earlier Chinese quatrains. Sijo, Korea's favorite poetic genre, is often traced to Confucian monks of the eleventh century, but its roots, too, are in those earlier forms. Its greatest flowering occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Sijo is, first and foremost, a song. This lyric pattern gained popularity in royal courts as a vehicle for religious or philosophic expression, but a parallel tradition arose among the 'common' folk. Sijo were sung or chanted with musical accompaniment, and still are. In fact, the word originally referred only to the music, but it has come to be identified with the lyric as well.

The poet should not lose sight of three basic characteristics that make the sijo unique: its structure, its musical/rhythmic elements, and the twist which begins the final line. For best results, poets follow these and other guidelines very closely. (sources: Wonder Haiku Worlds)

My first attempt to write a Sijo I love to share here with you all.

Cherry trees blossoming
for the very first time

spreading their branches,
reaching for the sun

thunderstorms raging,
fragile blossoms scattered

© Chèvrefeuille

Cherry blossoms

Well ...  what do you think about this Sijo? As I was preparing this episode of Tokubetsudesu I also visited Jane Reichhold's AHA-Poetry website and I traced one of the oldest known Sijo written in the 13th century by U Tak (1262-1342):

The spring breeze melted snow on the hills
then quickly disappeared.

I wish I could borrow it briefly
to blow over my hair

And melt away the aging frost
forming now about my ears.

© U T'ak (1262-1342)

By the way the "6 lines" lay-out is not the original lay-out of the Sijo. It was written in three lines. So this Sijo by U Tak would look like this, in the original lay-out:

The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared.

I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair
And melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears.

© U T'ak (1262-1342)

I think it's a nice poetry form, of course not an original Japanese form, but it's roots are in the same region as haiku. And in a way Sijo and haiku have something in common. Both are short and the main theme is nature.

Eagle

Try this nice little Korean verse and share it with us. I have another example of a Sijo by Narayanan Raghunathan which he wrote in 2005. Narayanan is co-founder of Wonder Haiku Worlds.

wonder days wander, eagles
on summer sky with thunder clouds

breeze from distant worlds arrives,
cool with swans on  billowing back

vast clouds  array ancient
fairy tales, epics of ether light. 

© Narayanan Raghunathan (co-founder of Wonder Haiku Worlds)

This episode of Tokubetsudesu is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until August 21th at noon (CET). I will publish our next episode, Monophysitism, later on..