Aug
29
There is a reason why Koreans have not won the Nobel in literature yet - the Korean literary language translates rather poorly into English. Some of my favorite Korean stories and poems become pale and lifeless in their translated form. Even the beautifully spare poems by Ko Un, a poet who is perennially mentioned as one of the favorites to win the Nobel, become hollow, even a bit corny, when translated into English. A few months ago, I had a chance to talk to Mark Strand about Ko Un, whom he had met in Frankfurt, I believe. “Every word that comes out of the man’s mouth is poetry,” Strand said, “but I find his poems to be a bit slight.” After saying so, he immediately questioned the quality of the translation he’d read.
Anyways, I’m going away to my friend’s lake house in Woodstock until Sunday; the following is my own translation of one of Ko Un’s shorter poems. (See you next week.)
…
A Forest
It was left there.
Inside my mother’s wardrobe.
The old scent of blue naphthalin
Permeating her cherished mulberry silk;
It was borne with the wind headed there
And it was borne with the wind headed here.
I’d never stepped into or come out of that forest.
(Image: “Paradise 24″ by Thomas Struth)
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