Kissing the sunlight flowing on its leaves
A tree dreams of Sun’s power
Caressing its cheeks against the rain spattering on its body
The tree dreams loudly of Rain’s blood
With the green power of the Wind blowing on its boughs
The tree hears the sound of its own life shaking.

- Poet Chong Hyon-jong’s “The Dream of Things 1 – A Tree’s Dream” -

One of Korea’s most celebrated poets, Chong Hyon-jong is recognized for the way he puts natural subjects, which might otherwise sound heavy, into succinct, poetic words, orchestrated by distinctive, light rhythms.

A collection of selected poems from Chong's career, spanning from his debut in 1965 until now, is available in English for a global audience.

The English-language collection covers his 81 major works including the title piece “The Dream of Things 1 – A Tree’s Dream.”

Another piece, titled “Trees of the World” goes:

I wonder what kinds of works
Trees of the world are doing?
They willingly take root in the soil of the man
Who enjoys watching them.

Day after day he watches them and loves them more
Until his heart pounds wild and blue at their beauty.
They push up saps in every corner of the body,
And channel their saps higher and higher up to the sky.
They are springs of perfect-round tension!

Trees! Don’t you hear day after day
The ever expanding, throbbing energy of first love
Full in the sky, on the earth, and in our hearts?

“Every line and word in Chong’s poetry seems to dance with the things described in it, instead of just portraying the appearance of things and intentionally giving a complicating meaning to them,” explained literary critic Park Hye-kyung.


“Only when you are awake can good poems come out,” Chong once said in an interview with the local press. “As things are well-reflected in the calm currents and are distorted against high wind and waves, poetry depends on the mental status of the creator. If the poet feels calm and stable, he or she can produce good pieces.”

Born in 1939 in Seoul, Chong graduated from Yonsei University in 1965 with a degree in philosophy. Right after graduation, he made his literary debut when he started working for the monthly Hyundai Literature journal. While publishing a series of poems, he served as Creative Writing Professor at the Seoul Institute of the Arts in 1974. He is currently serving as Korean Language and Literature Professor at his alma mater.

Collections of his poems include “I’m Mr. Star,” “Like a Bean That Has Fallen and Bounced Up,” “There’s Not a Lot of Time to Love” as well as collections of selected poems, “Festivals of Pain” and “Moon, Moon, Bright Moon.”

By Sohn JiAe
Korea.net Staff Writer
jiae5853@korea.kr