Korean Haiku

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Introducing Haiku from Korea

Some traditional "Japanese" things were originally Korean. Haiku are a simplified version of Korean sijo.

Korean poetry can be traced at least as far back as King Yuri's Song of Yellow Birds (17BC), but its roots are in still earlier Chinese quatrains.
Sijo, Korea's favorite poetic genre, is often traced to Confucian monks of the eleventh century, but its roots, too, are in those earlier forms. Its greatest flowering occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Sijo is, first and foremost, a song. This lyric pattern gained popularity in royal courts as a vehicle for religious or philosophic expression, but a parallel tradition arose among the 'common' folk.

Sijo were sung or chanted with musical accompaniment, and still are. In fact, the word originally referred only to the music, but it has come to be identified with the lyric as well.
http://members.tripod.com/~theWORDshop/Sijo/sijo-index.htm

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Korean Haiku by Alice S. Astle

Published In Periodical: Exponent II 7.4 (Summer): 17

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Rainy construction site -
The mist on Geumjong Mountain
doesn't mind the noise.

Korean Haiku by Dan Bosworth

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Haiku Expeditions in Korea

Haiku Expeditions Com


Some Haiku from the trip in 2002


seoul lights
reflect bright
on the han


city madness
escaping it all
pukansan quietness


Read more and look at the marvellous photos !

© Sanjay Rajan 2002-2006

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Tortoise with fish painting (19th century)
COURTESY OF JAPAN FOLK CRAFTS MUSEUM



we wish you
a happy birthday
with a turtle and carp !

They are symbols for a long life!

Read more about Korean Folk Art

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.
Korean Haiku
.
.
lost in reverie
thinking of blazing sunsets
and freezing mountains
.
government issue
all that is necessary
shall be provided
.
but for my own sake
I requisition the sky
to fill my vision
.
I capture the cold
but hold it away from me
at a safe distance
.
I climb the mountain
my feet compressing the snow
into hard pathways.
.
frozen immobile
I see sunlight glittering
on yesterday's slope
.
maybe tomorrow
will bring a clearer meaning
of today's events
.
end

anonymous, 2004

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From English Teachers in Korea

5.
Chan-Won cannot read.
Chang-Hee doesn’t know numbers.
New advanced class enrollees.

11.
Moo-Say was lied to.
His senior borrowed money.
Ain’t Confucianism grand?

Ya-ta Boy

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(Random Korean haiku)

Two drunk guys fighting
About who can drive the car
And not kill someone.

gypsyfish

Korea Haiku Forum, read them all !

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Koreaforum, by Gabi Greve


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Related words

***** Korean Ambassadors to Japan in the Edo Period


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http://worldkigodatabase.blogspot.com/
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