Although cultural exchanges between Iran and Korea date back over 1500 years, Azaleas is one of only a handful of titles of Korean poetry ever translated into Persian. The translation is the result of collaboration between a Korean translator and a Persian translator that  was edited by a Persian poet. The book includes a foreword which provides a brief introduction much-needed to the history of Korean poetry. 

Due to major structural and stylistic differences between the two languages, the translators have decided to adopt a more liberal approach to translation. They employed some of the techniques commonly used in Persian modern verse to create a collection that reads smoothly and looks familiar to a Persian reader.

Despite differences in poetic forms, Persians and Koreans seem to have similar perceptions of the role of poetry. Both cultures are very proud of their rich poetic traditions and expect poets to be socially conscious and to reflect on social and national emotions in their work. 

Kim’s language is deceptively simple and straight forward, but he uses this seemingly simple diction to express an array of complex emotions and to portray an interflow of sophisticated imagery. A refined and tender lyricism shines through every poem. Love, loss, and loneliness are recurrent themes wrapped in delicate images of nature and subtle references to social and national sentiments. 

‘Invocation’ is a very good example of poetry about loss. The narrator is in deep sorrow and despair and calls his lost beloved by name repeatedly as if hoping to resurrect the dead beloved or invoke her spirit. On a second reading, it can be read as a patriotic poem in which the poet-narrator reimagines the homeland as a beloved; fragmented and lost to occupation. He is prepared to die but will not abandon his homeland. A national suffering becomes his personal suffering, and his beloved becomes a metaphor for the nation. 

This subtle and delicate treatment of themes of national significance gained Kim recognition as a voice for nationalistic resistance without undermining his poetic originality. He remained true to himself and his emotions throughout his poetic career. In a poem about homesickness, he expresses his desire to see his little son and the neighbour’s daughter; writing that he never forgets them and never forgets Joseon. The last line is particularly revealing of the political message of the poem: ‘But even the kitchen mice have now escaped’.

In ‘O Mother, O Sister’, the poet employs the language of a child pleading with his mother and sister to live by the river. We don’t see the response of the mother and sister, but the desperate tone of the appeal indicates that a favourable response is impossible. Is it because the river and the homes by the river or even the entire country is under occupation? The fact that Kim doesn’t openly talk about the socio-political conditions of his time and the plights of Koreans under the Japanese occupation shows his deep commitment to his perception of poetry as a vehicle to convey inner feeling. This romantic approach requires the poet to ‘internalise’ the subjects he wants to write about and to present them as manifestations of his personal experience. 

Kim makes a very creative use of narrative and dramatic devices. In some poems, he sets the scene like the setting in a play. Mountains, rivers, trees, birds, sky, and clouds are described in minute detail. By doing so, he creates a physical space within which his emotions can be shared. Narrative is a common element in oral and folk poetry in nearly every culture. Narrative renders poetry more accessible to a wider readership. It also helps them remember the poem more easily. 

Dream and dream-like imagery is another characteristic of Kim’s poetry. Some images are melancholic and unsettling like those in ‘Half-moon’ and ‘Silken Mist’. ‘Silken Mist’ creates a foggy and mysterious environment evoking mixed feelings of the first day of love and the last day of departure. One line in the middle is particularly disturbing and even macabre: ‘It was then a lass sought death for herself / when the snow began to melt’. 

Yet Kim’s poetry is not all doom and gloom. There are some very bright poems portraying happy emotions of fulfilling love and carefree gaiety. In one poem, the poet praises not only the physical beauty but also the spiritual elegance of his beloved and expresses his desire to kiss her soul as well as her soft and red lips. In another, he describes a morning sunshine on a peaceful mountainous road while the poet is walking through colourful meadows, reminiscing on teenage memories after a night of comfortable sleep.

Alireza Abiz

Poet, Literary Scholar, and Translator

The Kindly Interrogator (2021)

Censorship of Literature in Post-Revolutionary Iran (2020)