The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry

Korea's modern poetry is filled with many different voices and styles, subjects and views, moves and countermoves, yet it still remains relatively unknown outside of Korea itself. This is in part because the Korean language, a rich medium for poetry, has been ranked among the most difficult for English speakers to learn. The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry is the only up-to-date representative gathering of Korean poetry from the twentieth century in English, far more generous in its selection and material than previous anthologies. It presents 228 poems by 34 modern Korean poets, including renowned poets such as So Chongju and Kim Chiha. Taking as its starting point the long-standing characterization of Milton as a "Hebraic" writer, Milton and the Rabbis probes the limits of the relationship between the seventeenth-century English poet and polemicist and his Jewish antecedents. Shoulson's analysis moves back and forth between Milton's writings and Jewish writings of the first five centuries of the Common Era, collectively known as midrash. In exploring the historical and literary implications of these connections, Shoulson shows how Milton's text can inform a more nuanced reading of midrash just as midrash can offer new insights into Paradise Lost. Shoulson is unconvinced of a direct link between a specific collection of rabbinic writings and Milton's works. He argues that many of Milton's poetic ideas that parallel midrash are likely to have entered Christian discourse not only through early modern Christian Hebraicists but also through Protestant writers and preachers without special knowledge of Hebrew. At the heart of Shoulson's inquiry lies a fundamental question: When is an idea, a theme, or an emphasis distinctively Judaic or Hebraic and when is it Christian? The difficulty in answering such questions reveals and highlights the fluid interaction between ostensibly Jewish, Hellenistic, and Christian modes of thought not only during the early modern period but also early in time when rabbinic Judaism and Christianity began Chu Yohan (1900-1980) Kim Sowŏl (1902-1934) Yi Sanghwa (1901-1943) Han Yong'un (1879-1944) Yi Yuksa (1904-1944) Im Hwa (1908-1953) Chŏng Chiyong (1902?) Kim Yŏngnang (1903-1950) Yi Sang (1910-1937) No Ch'ŏnmyŏng (1912-1957) Paek Sŏk (1912-?) Yun tongju (1918-1945) Sŏ Chŏngju (1915-2000) Pak Mogwŏl (1916-1978) Cho Chihun (1920-1968) Pak Tujin (1916-1998) Kim Suyŏng (1921-1968) Pak Inhwan (1926-1956) Kim Ch'unsu (1922-) Ku Sang (1919-) Hong Yunsuk (1925-) Kim Namjo (1927-) Pak Chaesam (1933-1997) Shin Kyŏngnim (1936-) Ko ŭn (1933-) Hwang Tonggyu (1938-) Shin Tongyŏp (1930-1969) Chŏng Hyŏnjong (1939-) Kim Chiha (1941-) Kang Ŭn'gyo (1945-) Im Yŏngjo (1943-) Kim Sŭnghŭi (1952-) Kim Hyesun (1955-) Hwang Jiwoo (1952-) Pak Nohae (1957-). Korea's modern poetry is filled with many different voices and styles, subjects and views, moves and countermoves, yet it still remains relatively unknown outside of Korea itself. This is in part because the Korean language, a rich medium for poetry, has been ranked among the most difficult for English speakers to learn. "The Columbia Anthology of Modern Korean Poetry" is the only up-to-date, representative gathering of Korean poetry from the twentieth century in English, far more generous in its selection and material than previous anthologies. It presents 228 poems by 34 modern Korean poets, including renowned poets such as Sŏ Chŏngju and Kim Chiha. -- From publisher's description Ah, the day is waning, in the western sky, over the lonely river, the even pinkish glow is fading . . . ah, when the sun sets, when the sun sets, night will return without fail.