Chu Yo-han

Chu was considered a representative poet of the 1920 and 30's[5] and his work can be roughly divided into those poems composed before his exile in Shanghai and those written afterward. His earlier poems, written during his years in Japan, reflect the influence of modern Western and Japanese poetry. The influence of the French symbolist poet Paul Fort is especially evident in pieces such as “Fireworks”[6] (Bullori): in a limpid, clear style he sensitively registers the minutest of impressions and manages to lend them a sensual immediacy.[7]

You may sense such delicate impressions from two verses of the poem Bullori,[8] which opened the age of modern poetry in Korea.

Ah, it's getting dark. The sky in the west is glowing with pink lights disappearing on the lonely river. Ah, in the evening after sunset, the night will come again when I'm crying in the shade of an apricot tree. Today, it’s the eighth of April [Buddha's Birthday] when the joyful voices of people flow in and out in the streets. Why should I endure my tears in my heart alone?

Ah, it's dancing and swaying. A bright red fire ball is dancing. When I looked down at the top of a quiet castle gate, I could smell waters and sands below. As torches which were biting the night and the sky later bit off themselves as if something was running short, a young man with a depressed heart threw away his promising dreams in the past into the cold river. How could the cold-hearted river stop such shadow of dreams? - - - Ah, there is no flower which wouldn't wither when it is cut off. Even though I stay alive, my mind is dying when I think of the deceased lover. What the heck! I'd rather burn my heart with that fire and to cast away my sorrow. When I visited the tomb with painful footsteps, flowers, which withered during the winter, were in bloom. I wish the spring filled with love come again. I'd rather die in that water, then someone would feel sorry for myself. . . . At that time, tung, tak a paper fire cracker is fired flying sparks. When I am awakened, uproarious onlookers seem to laugh at or scold me. Ah, I'd like to live with stronger passion. I see the smoke of torches getting tangled. In the agony inside the breathless fire, I think unexpectedly with a pounding heart, I want to live a more passionate life.

Chu Yo-han's work as a whole more or less reflects a gradual turning away from styles and forms influenced by Western poetry toward traditional Korean poetry. Like Kim Eok, he was a major figure in Korean Literature who pioneered the move away from Western imitation to his literary roots. He articulates the reasons for this shift of inspiration in his critical piece, "To the One Who Would Write a Song" (Noraereul jieusillyeoneun iege), in which he places the highest value on the creation of beauty and vitality in the Korean language and move on to develop a complete theory of poetry. After 1930, Yohan concentrated on writing Sijo (Hanja: 時調), a traditional Korean poetic form, but continued to produce other verse and edited, with others, the poetry anthology Poetry of Three People (Samin sigajip) and an anthology of Sijo, "Garden Balsam Flower" (Bongsa kkot. 봉사꽃, 鳳仙花).[2]

To commemorate Chu Yo-han's dedication to the development of the Korean literature and industries, the South Korean government conferred on him posthumously honors of Rose of Sharon (Hangul: 무궁화장)[9] in 1979. It is to be noted in addition that several hymns are composed by him, which contributed development church music of Korea.

• List of Korean-language poets
• Korean poetry

• The Song-A Literature Foundation