HARVARD EAST ASIAN MONOGRAPHS
Cover: The Book of Korean Shijo in HARDCOVER

Harvard East Asian Monographs 215

The Book of Korean Shijo

Edited and translated by Kevin O'Rourke

Currently unavailable

Book Details

HARDCOVER

$35.00 • £25.95 • €31.50

ISBN 9780674008571

Publication: July 2002

Short

248 pages

6 x 9 inches

Harvard University Asia Center > Harvard East Asian Monographs

World, subsidiary rights restricted

The Korean genre known as shijo is short song lyrics. Originally meant to be sung rather than recited, these short poems are light, personal, and very often conversational. The language is simple, direct, and devoid of elaboration or ornamentation. The shijo poet gives a firsthand account of his personal experience of life and emotion: the rise and fall of dynasties, friendship, love, parting, the pleasures of wine, the beauty and transience of life, the inexorable advance of old age. In this anthology of translations of 612 shijo, Kevin O’Rourke introduces the English reader to this venerable and witty style of verse. The anthology covers the entire range of shijo production from the tenth century to the modern era.