노사 기정진 시에 나타난 애고의 시정

Abstract

This paper examines the poetic expression of emotions, in particular, that of sorrow and pain, by Nosa Gi Jeong-jin(1798, King Jeongjo 22~1879, King Gojong 16), who is one of the renowned Neo-Confucianists at the end of Joseon Dynasty. Scholars have studied Gi’s philosophy much more than his poetry. But to study his poetry is able to deepen our understanding of him. This paper thus examines Gi’s poems in which he expresses a variety of emotions such as the woe caused by illness and debility, the sorrows of parting and death, and the lamentations over a confused political system and distortion of the truth. Gi suffered from many diseases all his life. For this reason, his poetic world is full of ailments and pains. He often expresses how lonely he battles with his diseases and how he feels helpless against them. Despite such depression and woe, he has his will to live and shows that he takes his diseases philosophically. Gi also mourns over the deaths of families and friends and expresses the pain of parting in his poems. These poems show that he is not class-conscious when he makes friends. He expresses his longing for his beloved people and his aching heart for parting with them. He laments the deaths of his bosom friends with the deep and painful sorrows. Nineteenth-century Joseon was a time of upheaval, facing both internal and external challenges. Joseon in decline evoked sorrow and distress in Gi. He worried about people in wretched conditions and criticized the authorities that were responsible for such agony. During Byungin Yangyo, he wrote poems to denounce western imperialism and encourage his pupils who organized loyal troops against French invaders.