Everything Yearned For: Manhae's Poems of Love and Longing

by Manhae, Francisca Cho (Translator), David R. McCann (Foreword)

Those who've read Rumi and want to know what's next will love Manhae. The happiness of meeting, the sadness of separation, the agony of longing and waiting, and the perfection of love in absence—Manhae's gift was to give these moments their due in terms both subtle and surprisingly evocative. Long a cultural hero in Korea, Manhae—whose work can be compared to that of Rumi and even Pablo Neruda—finally receives his proper audience in the West.

Genres: Poetry, Asian Literature

170 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1925

Reviews

[Ahmed K-masterly {Cruel Sanity} · Rating 5 out of 5]

"عند الفجر كانت أحلامي قصيره جداً
فظننت ان همومي بقصرها
لكن هماً سرى وراء همٌ
ولم اعرف متى ستنتهي."

فلسفة الشاعر الكوري "مانهي" هي فلسفة الحب ذاته، من وحي القلب ذاته، ممتزجاً بالتعاليم البوذيه، الطاغوريه والكونفوشيوسيه، وكل ما قد تأثر به.
وتعليق المترجم على كل قصيده وكلمه ما هو إلا فنٌ آخر جليل. أللتماس الأدب الكوري جميل.

"أن من المنطقي ان تُقرأ القصيدة كما لو كانت جدالاً فكرياً في الشعر وحوله، في حين يمكن للفن ان ينقل الفرد عبر الحدود، يظل ذلك الفن هوية في سياق تاريخي يجب أن ينالها التطور". للمترجم.
أشرف أبو اليزيد.

[Jae Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great translations. Poems hum with incredible sound quality and clarity.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Han Yon-gun, better known under the pseudonym Manhae, was a Buddhist monk (and reformer of Buddhism), and apparently an important figure in the early Independence movement before World War II; he wrote these poems at the height of his political activity, shortly after completing a prison sentence for his agitation against the Japanese colonial government. This edition, the fourth translation of the book into English, contains a short biography and critical article and some notes, as well as the ninety poems. The Korean title is literally "the silence of the nim", a word which he explains in the first poem means not just "love" or "the lover" in the romantic sense but "love of country", "love of God", and generally "everything yearned for." Not surprisingly, many scholars interpret the poems as being allegories of the Independence movement, or less often as allegories of Buddhist enlightenment; since I don't read Korean and know almost nothing about Korean literature except for the few books I have read in the past two months, I won't try to take a position, except to say that like the translator I think they work as straightforward love poetry -- which doesn't exclude their having other layers of significance, of course. The book begins with the poet's lover leaving him for unexplained reasons; most of the poems express his longing for her (or hers for him; many of the poems are apparently from a female perspective, which is not always apparent in English) and the last poem suggests that they are about to be reunited. There are some quite interesting ideas about the nature of love and desire (which could also be applied to the other forms of desire mentioned before.) He is credited with being one of the first "modern" Korean poets, but the translator suggests that his real importance is in "fusing" the modern with the traditional; again I don't have the background to judge, but the work is quite worth reading.

[Readings n' Musings · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
"Parting creates beauty.
The beauty of parting is not in the fragile gold of morning,
in the seamless silk of night,
in deathless immortality,
or the undying blue of heaven.
My love, without parting I wouldn’t live again in laughter after dying in tears.
Ah, parting.
Beauty creates parting."

"If your footsteps hadn’t awakened me
I would be riding a cloud seeking."

"I’m the ferryboat;
you’re the traveler.
You walk on me with muddy feet;"

"To set genuine song to music dishonors its nature."

"Those who pleasure in slander are glad that the sun has its spots."

"A year ago, I thought your face was like the moon;
Tonight the moon has become your face."

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Translated by Francisca Cho, this poetry book "Everything Yearned For, Manhae's Poems of Love & Longing" is beautiful on the inside and outside. Manhae is the sobriquet of the Korean Buddhist monk and poet Han Yong-un (1879-1944). In this collection, he brings forth his modernizing style and his beliefs about the mind, nature, transcendence, and writing and publishing for societal reform. Reading it can occur on multiple levels of understanding: in a literal sense, as a political allegory, or as a dialogue with Rabindranath Tagore.

[Kent Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and insightful translation.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really beautiful collection of poems-- highly recommend!

[Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I particularly like the meditations on parting and distance creating love.

[Barry Welsh]

Watch my comments on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sLqk...

[Therese L. Broderick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not until I read this book did I fully appreciate the word "quintessential."

This book is graced, on every page, with quintessential Poetry.

The translator's translations plus commentary are immaculately written, the result of her dedicated research and her honed aesthetic.

The book-object is also a work of art. Cover design, proportion of height:width, text layout -- beyond beyond.

For everyone associated with its publication, this book must have been a profound labor of love.

[Ken Mcleod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most profound and beautiful book of poetry I've encountered.