뱀과 달의 상상력 ― 서정주 시 「花蛇」와 「冬天」 연구

Abstract

This study aims to complement the problems with the interpretation of Seo Jeongju’s poems up to now through a thorough reading of his representative poems, “A Flower Snake” and “Winter Sky.”The chapter 2 addresses the reality of ‘the back alley of Sahyang Bakha(麝香 薄荷),’ the meaning of ‘slithering in,’ and the relationship between ‘a flower snake and a leper.’Actually, the Sahyang Bakha(麝香 薄荷) that grows in the ‘back alley’ is not musk and mint, but musky mint or thyme and mint, a plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. The back alley, which is the setting of the poem, refers to the road behind a house, and it is presumed that humans have planted musky mint or thyme and mint. It is a anti-physical space where the scent expels snakes as the ‘back alley of Sahyang Bakha(麝香 薄荷)’ is antipodal to snakes. The object of ‘slithering into’ can have two interpretations. The first is the poetic persona and the second is Soonne. The flower snake is reborn into the subject of desire by slithering into those who desire it. That is to say, the flower snake is both the desired to which desire is projected and the desire itself through the act of slithering into. In oriental medicine, a flower snake is known to have a remedial effect on leprosy. In “A Flower Snake,” the persona tries to enkindle the fire of life in his body which is withering almost out of vitality by means of becoming one with a flower snake just as a flower snake remedies lepers and brings life back to him. The anti-Christian and devilish power of a flower snake is a powerful force of life. This ambilaterality of a flower snake serves as a symbol that shows the directions of imagination in Seo Jeongju’s early poems. The chapter 3 deals with the reality of ‘the moon like an eyebrow,’ and the meaning of ‘washing’ and ‘the awful bird and the hour of morning.’In this poem, whether the moon is the new or old moon depends on whether the persona misses his lover in the evening or at dawn. If the time of missing one’s lover is at dawn, it feels like the persona’s feelings are intensified as his loneliness is deepened. Actually, the poet said he had gained the inspiration for this poem while he was taking a walk along the frozen Han river in the early morning. Thus, it is reasonable to claim that the ‘moon like an eyebrow’ is the old moon. Again, the eyebrow at heart is made pure when it is washed with the dreams of one thousand nights. Here the ‘washing’ can be interpreted as a process of purifying a black eyebrow that signifies desire into white one. The ‘awful bird’ in “Winter Sky” refers to a rapacious bird such as a hawk. Its flying ‘pretending to sweep on a slant’ means a rapacious bird gliding with its wings fully extended. And the reason the persona sees one is that the time in the poem is not the night but the early morning when the old moon is still up in the sky. Likewise, this study, through a thorough and repetitive reading of “A Flower Snake” and “Winter Sky,” attempts to show an analysis of the poem, which can be the foundation for the world of abundant imagination to unfold where the poet’s and the reader’s imagination encounter. This kind of poem reading based on the infinite affection for poetry can be applied not only to Seo Jeongju’s poems but also to the literary works in general. It is hoped that this study can trigger a new reading with multiple perspectives to correct stereotypes and interpretative errors common in ‘popular poems.’