Blog Entry 1.3 Symbolism_Revised

Blog Entry 1.3 Poetry Symbolism_Revised

The poem that I picked is "Azaleas" which is one of the most popular poems in Korea, because of its subtle and lyrical wording. Kim So-wol is regarded as ‘Korea's first modern poet, the master of subtle and delicate verses’ (The Korea Times). Kim So-wol was born in Korea in 1902. He was so smart that he went to one of the best schools back then, but after his school days, adversity lied in store for him. As his grandfather wanted Kim So-wol to take over the family’s business, Kim So-wol started working for the company as a manager, but the business went down soon. Meanwhile, he published several collections of poems. In those days, however, poets did not earn good money although he was one of the talented poets. Kim So-wol tried several businesses afterwards, but everything did not worked out. He was not strong enough to tide over the difficult situation. After several failures, unfortunately, he committed suicide in 1934 when he was 32 years old.

For the poem, "Azaleas", there are many symbols such as the following; ‘weary of me,’ ‘azaleas,’ ‘scatter them on your way,’ ‘tread lightly, softly as you go’, and ‘though I die, I’ll not let one tear fall.’ In the first two stanzas, the narrator portrays a melancholic tone by saying ‘without a word… scatter them on your way.’ "Weary of me," in the first stanza, simply means that ‘you’ became dissatisfied with the narrator. It also suggests the narrator’s unpleasant state of mind, since the expression, ‘weary of me,’ is harsh to the ear. Mount Yak in Youngbyon, located in North Korea, was famous for its beautiful azaleas in the past. By using a specific place that can be considered to generate them indigenously, he creates a vivid mental picture for the reader.  "Azalea," the title of the poem, is a flower which has two different colors white or pink respectively. "Azalea" is also one of Korean’s favorite flowers so the flower represents the mind goodwill yet heartbroken. ‘Scatter them on your way’ shows the image of distributing flowers at irregular intervals. It may be considered to pray to God for one’s peace.

The last two stanzas tell that the narrator wants to forget about ‘you’ completely, saying that ‘though I die, I’ll not let one tear fall.’ Some people get upset and cannot control their anger or dissatisfaction when their relationship does not work out, but the narrator still seems love ‘you’ even though the ‘you’ he refers to in the poem leaves. We can find the narrator’s constant love in the line, ‘on the flowers placed before you.’ ‘Tread lightly, softly as you go,’ in the third stanza, may serve the same meaning as ‘scatter them on your way’ in the second stanza as well. Lastly, "though I die, I’ll not let one tear fall" gives the image of a resolute attitude for separation. It also indicates that the narrator does not want to let ‘you’ know the narrator’s deep sadness.

-Works Cited-

http://koreanpoetry.homestead.com/

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/01/137_17042.html

Azaleas

When you leave,

weary of me,

without a word I shall gently let you go.

From Mt. Yak

in Yongbyon

I shall gather armfuls of azaleas

and scatter them on your way.

Step by step

on the flowers placed before you

tread lightly, softly as you go.

When you leave

weary of me,

though I die, I'll not let one tear fall.