after my death,
I would answer, a pine tree, tall and hardy
on the highest peak of Mount Pongnae,
And to be green, alone, green
when snow fills heaven and earth.
Song Sammun (1418-1456)
A sijo written in Korean by one of the Six Martyred Ministers of Tanjong. I found it in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Korean Poetry, edited by Peter H. Lee. It has a good section on sijo as well as on other Korean forms of poetry. The two poems of Song Sammun's I've blogged so far are rather death-y, but then he was executed and all (and perhaps he suspected his fate long enough before he died to write poems about it).
The sijo of this period were transmitted orally for some generations, and were sung/chanted. The book mentioned above tells a bit more about it.
I never heard of this form of poetry before. Looks interesting. Thanks for sharing Nissa.
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