Poetry
서동요
Not translated into English
Anonymous · 599
Synopsis
According to the account in the Samguk yusa that frames it, Seodong, the son of a widow whom legend says conceived him from a pond dragon, is a young man of the kingdom of Baekje. In love with Princess Seonhwa, third daughter of King Jinpyeong of Silla, he makes his way to the capital of that rival kingdom, hands out yams to street children and teaches them a couplet that credits the princess with secret meetings with him. The song spreads through the city and reaches the court.
Context
The song is recorded in the Samguk yusa, in the entry devoted to King Mu of Baekje, of whom Seodong is said to have been the childhood name. The Jeonbuk Ilbo dates it to around 600, and it is among the twenty-five surviving hyangga. Written in hyangchal, it remains disputed in its reading: the best known, that of Yang Ju-dong, does not command unanimity. Historians doubt the story, Baekje and Silla being at war; some see in it an older myth taken up again or a reworking from after the unification, and the Korean translation library notes a reading that makes Seodong a group of boys gathering plants.
Who it is for
Four lines, to be read with the narrative that frames them; no translation of its own, a few English versions in anthologies.
Prizes and reception
The Jeonbuk Ilbo sees in it both a children's song and a prophetic chant, a political sign of its time.