Azaleas
(진달래꽃)
poem by | Kim So-wol (김소월) | |
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year of publication | 1925 | |
poetry collection | Azaleas (진달래꽃), 1925 | |
song performed by | Sumi Jo (조수미) | |
song composed by | Kim Dong-jin (김동진) |
진달래꽃 | Azaleas | |
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나 보기가 역겨워 | If you get fed up with me | |
가실 때에는 | and decide to leave | |
말없이 고이 보내 드리오리다. | I would let you go without saying a word. | |
영변에 약산1 | The azaleas of Yaksan1 | |
진달래꽃 | in Yeongbyeon, | |
아름 따다 가실 길에 뿌리오리다. | I will pick an armful to strew in your path. | |
가시는 걸음걸음 | At each step of your way, | |
놓인 그 꽃을 | may your gay feet | |
사뿐히 즈려밟고 가시옵소서. | gently tread on those flowers as you go. | |
나 보기가 역겨워 | If you get fed up with me | |
가실 때에는 | and decide to leave | |
죽어도 아니 눈물 흘리오리다. | I would sooner die than show you tears. | |
[1] 약산은 북한 평양 북쪽의 도시 영변에 | [1] Yaksan (약산), a mountain in the city Yeongbyeon | |
있는 산으로, 진달래꽃이 많이 피는 것으로 | (영변) north of North Korea's capital Pyeongyang, was | |
유명했다고 한다. | famous for bountiful azaleas. |
진달래꽃 |
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나 보기가 역겨워 |
가실 때에는 |
말없이 고이 보내 드리오리다. |
영변에 약산1 |
진달래꽃 |
아름 따다 가실 길에 뿌리오리다. |
가시는 걸음걸음 |
놓인 그 꽃을 |
사뿐히 즈려밟고 가시옵소서. |
나 보기가 역겨워 |
가실 때에는 |
죽어도 아니 눈물 흘리오리다. |
[1] 약산은 북한 평양 북쪽의 도시 영변에 |
있는 산으로, 진달래꽃이 많이 피는 것으로 |
유명했다고 한다. |
Azaleas |
---|
If you get fed up with me |
and decide to leave |
I would let you go without saying a word. |
The azaleas of Yaksan1 |
in Yeongbyeon, |
I will pick an armful to strew in your path. |
At each step of your way, |
may your gay feet |
gently tread on those flowers as you go. |
If you get fed up with me |
and decide to leave |
I would sooner die than show you tears. |
[1] Yaksan (약산), a mountain in the city Yeongbyeon |
(영변) north of North Korea's capital Pyeongyang, was |
famous for bountiful azaleas. |
with landscapes of Korean hills and mountains

(https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/진달래)
Azaleas (진달래꽃) is both the title of Kim So-wol's poetry collection published in 1925 and the best known work in it. It is probably the most popular poem in the history of Korea, perennially featured in textbooks and adapted to songs. You could almost say anyone who doesn't know it is probably not a Korean.
The poem has the protagonist (let's assume it is a female to avoid repeating he or she or they) saying what she will do when her loved one leaves her, all grown tired of her. She wouldn't make a scene or cry, but instead gather the azalea flowers and strew them on his path, to make his departure that much more pleasant. She is vowing to do her best for the last time so that her man won't feel guilty or uncomfortable - un utterly selfless devotion you would see in fairy tales.
While on the surface it appears to describe a heart-rending breakup in the woman's relationship, it could as easily be just an imagined situation, as this sort of expressing the opposite appears often in Kim So-wol's work. It could very well be that there is nothing amiss and our protagonist is in such a bliss that she undergoes an emotional inflection point, imagining what she would do in that unthinkable development, savoring her blessings all the more in the process.
However you interpret it, it undeniably captures a profound and boundless love, which appears to be the single most important subject in Kim's works. The poem combines this traditional ideal of love with the visual motif of azaleas - the humbly beautiful flower familiar to most Koreans - resting upon the foundation of time-proven meter of seven-fives (7·5 조) and the simple and earthy language Kim is known for. It must be this lofty yet down-to-earth devotion, the at once ideal and all too familiar emotion that everyone can relate to, which make this work nothing short of a watershed in modern Korean poetry.