Whisper of Splendor: Poems by Chong Hyon-Jong

Description

Whisper of Splendor: Poems by Chong Hyon-Jong

Author: Chong Hyon-Jong

Translator: Cho Young-Shil

Order No. 1151

ISBN-13: 9781622460458

ISBN-10:  1622460456

Binding: Paperback

Publisher: Homa & Sekey Books

Pub Year: 2018

Language: English

Size: 5.5 x 8.5

Page: 100

Price: $16.95. You pay only $13.56 (after 20% discount).

About the Book

Whisper of Splendor brings about 60 poems from the author to demonstrate his poetic ideals and art. In the book, the reader notes the persona’s propensity to take away the tangled web of meanings that packs his consciousness, so that he can take in things as they are, as they move. Declining to translate things from outside and thereon to construct their complicated meanings, Chong now relies on his intense vision in crafting a new poetry. He has become a realist of vision.

The mind’s eye—the inner waves—transports him to tomorrow morning, where the heart dawns and Time blossoms full, despite the ills of the modern world. Interlaced with aesthetic quest, philosophical knowledge, longing for robust humanity, his poems are poignantly beautiful, visionary and often—humorous.

About the Author

Chong Hyon-Jong was born in Seoul, Korea, in 1939, graduated from Yonsei University with a major in philosophy, and made his debut as a poet through “Hyondae Munhak” in 1965. His poetry books include The Dream of Things, Call Me Mr. Star, Like a Ball Bouncing upon Falling, Not Much Time to Love, A Flower, The World’s Trees, Thirst as Well as a Fountain, and Can’t Bear It. He also translated several literary books into Korean.

About the Translator

Cho Young-Shil is the translator of three Korean poetry collections: One Day, Then Another by Kim Kwang-Kyu (White Pine Press, 2013), A Warm Family by Kim Hu-Ran (Codhill Press, 2014), A Lion at Three in the Morning by Nam Jin-Woo (Homa & Sekey Books, 2017). She wrote Flowers Going to Seeds, a book of poems in memoriam of her mother (1908-2001), and in her spare time writes poems for young adults.

Table of Contents

The Poet’s Note              /v

1. Time Blossoming 1           /1
2. Poetry Came Surging and Surging            /2
3. Time Blossoming 2           /3
4. O My Hearts         /4
5. Scarlet Ivy Runners            /5
6. Each to Each          /6
7. An Ailing Friend’s Earth    /7
8. Some Solitude       /8
9. A Day        /9
10. A House Built of Air          /10
11. Ode to a Cricket    /11
12. O Art!        /13
13. The Creation         /14
14. Those Lucent Clouds        /15
15. Blunders    /16
16. Where the Wind Rises       /17
17. A Fine Day                        /18
18. Flower of the Sea               /19
19. Horizon     /20
20. The Heart Where Dawn Rises       /22
21. Poems I Write Hereafter                /23
22. Fake Busy              /24
23. I Feel Sad               /25
24. Enormous Unconsciousness          /26
25. Oh Stillness           /27
26. Song for the Shoe Repair Shop      /28
27. Moving Packages               /29
28. Good Old Days                 /30
29. Musicians              /31
30. Hell           /34
31. The Hand Lifted in the Air            /35
32. Oh Stillness 2        /37
33. Scent of Soil          /38
34. The Mind Sprouts Everywhere      /39
35. Gait 9        /40
36. Infinite Exterior     /41
37. A Visitor                /42
38. On Dignity            /43
39. Chimney               /44
40. Killing Poetry        /45
41. Women                 /46
42. It All Depends How You Make up Your Mind /47
43. A Note on Art       /49
44. Morning                /50
45. Wine Flavor           /51
46. What Vision!         /53
47. A Contemplation               /54
48. A Constellation Walking About    /55
49. Wind Shadow        /57
50. Oh the Warmth!                /58
51. Upon Visiting the West Lake (Xi Hu)       /59
52. Oh the Seeds         /61
53. Tang of Energy     /63
54. O the Dazzle of Diamond             /64
55. Praise for a Mountain        /65
56. Light-Drops           /66
57. A Sacred Picture                /67
58. Whisper of Splendor                     /68
59. Shangri-La             /70
60. Of Places               /71 

    Commentary/ The Poems That Dream of Infinite Light Waves · Park Hye-Kyung  /73