Korean Poetry Through W. B. Yeats: Kim Chunsoo and Kim Jonggil

Abstract

The paper searches parallels between English and Korean poetry as represented by Kim Chunsoo and Kim Jonggil, two of modern and contemporary poets in relation to W. B. Yeats. It clarifies the validity of such a comparative study by showing the interrelationship in the visual art, for it is there physically to see, as exemplified by the giving and receiving of Picasso and Matisse through their works. Even though it is not that easy in poetry, it is nevertheless possible to relate such relationship in it. Yeats has been a great influence on English and American poets; and a large number of researches and studies have been done. But Yeats has not been compared with Korean poets, in part because Korean and English are totally different languages. But as this study has shown, this kind of study could give benefits to both scholars and writers as well. This paper selects two of Kim Chunsoo’s early poems to compare with Yeats’s parallels. The fact is, Yeats’s poems seem to have had influence on the early Kim. Kim's poetry is different, though. What we could benefit from this study is that Korean poets need not worry about influences from great foreign poets. Understanding foreign language poetry helps Korean poets enrich their own poetry by learning what their true self is, what language Korean is; Kim must have learned that from reading Yeats. The paper takes and analyzes Kim Jonggil in relation with Yeats. Kim Jonggil is different from Kim Chunsoo; Kim Jonggil teaches Yeats and other poets in English. But what interests me is he is far different from other Korean poets. He seems to have transcended foreign influences, not to mention that he has outgrown Yeats and other English poets. Two of Kim’s poems are elaborated in relation with Yeats’s. I deal with Kim’s supreme poem with one of Yeats’s best. Kim’s quality compares well with Yeats’s, but his poetry itself is different from Yeats’s.