Poetry
달나라의 장난
Not translated into English
Kim Su-yeong · 1959
Synopsis
The collection gathers poems written up to July 1959, arranged in an order the poet chose. In the title poem, one of the best known, a spinning top turns before the poet's eyes; he begins by saying that the thing, when you think about it, is sad; before it, he questions himself and what holds a being upright. Other pieces open, according to Kim Jong-hun, onto family and neighbourhood, laughter and love, and seek the very origin of poetic language in the everyday life of a city dweller.
Context
The volume appeared in 1959 from Chunjosa; it was the only collection its author published in his lifetime. Kim Jong-hun regards the years 1957 to 1959 as those in which the poet fixed his criteria, and reads in the book the announcement of his poetry of the sixties: affirmation of tradition and history, rediscovery of love, essays on language; he argues for reading the work in terms of continuity rather than rupture. A 2020 study notes that the posthumous complete works respected neither the order the author intended nor always the wording of the poems.
Who it is for
Short poems; the collection is not translated in full, but a selection by the author has appeared in French under the title Cent poèmes.
Prizes and reception
It is linked to the poets' association's first prize, awarded in 1957.
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