Gisangdo

Gisangdo is composed of 7 sections and 424 lines. Each section is labeled with titles that follow the progression of a typhoon: Segyeui achim (세계의 아침 Morning of the World), Siminhaengnyeol (시민행렬 Citizen Parade), Taepungui gichim sigan (태풍의 기침 시간 Rising Time of the Typhoon), Jachwi (자취 Tracks), Byeongdeun punggyeong (병든 풍경 A Diseased Landscape), Olppaemiui jumun (올빼미의 주문 Owl's Incantation), and Soebakwiui norae (쇠바퀴의 노래 Song of an Iron Wheel). The 7 sections are further divided into 3 parts, according to time. Sections 1 through 3 depict the time before the typhoon's arrival, sections 4 through 6 depict the typhoon as it ravages the land, and section 7 shows the time after the typhoon has passed.[1]

In section 1, Segyeui achim, before the typhoon begins, the atmosphere is light-hearted and hopeful. However, in section 2, Siminhaengnyeol, the narrator senses the unease around the world in places such as China, America, France, and Korea. Then in section 3, Taepungui gichim sigan, warnings come that a typhoon has made its approach, and descriptions of the typhoon are given through dialogue. Section 4, Jachwi, depicts the scenes of chaos caused by the typhoon as churches, libraries, brothels, and roads fall into disarray. Section 5, Byeongdeun punggyeong, also shows a series of devastated landscapes in the wake of the typhoon. Section 6, Olppaemiui jumun, depicts the despair, grief, and sorrow brought about by the typhoon. And finally, a day after the typhoon has passed in section 7, Soebakwiui norae, a new sun rises and the poem sings of the will and hope of life once again.[2]

Gisangdo criticizes modern society through the image of a charging typhoon. In particular, the poem satirizes the fascism and imperialism of the 1930s by comparing the volatile state of international affairs to a volatile climate.[3] Kim Kirim, who was a journalist before he became a poet, actively brought into his poems the various pieces of knowledge he acquired through working in the editorial department.[4] Kim Kirim also included elements—such as the names of foreign flowers, the international harbors, transcontinental trans, world maps, and foreign consulates—that signaled to the reader that a new era had arrived. These characteristics show us the modernist side of Kim Kirim and a man who attempted to address the changing times.[5]

Gisangdo was heavily influenced by T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. T. S. Eliot's name appears frequently in Kim Kirim's writings on poetry, which Kim Kirim wrote in 1936 in Japan before he began studying I.A. Richards’ theories on poetry. In the author's note, there are passages that remind one of Elliot's The Waste Land. For example, Kim Kirim revealed that he wanted to mix every aspect of modern civilization to make a piece that was like a symphony, and this can be compared to the way in which T. S. Eliot injected parts of Wagner's symphonies into The Waste Land. Gisangdo and The Waste Land also draw similarities in the sense that they are both long poems that critically view the rise and fall of civilization.  Of course, that is not to say that there are not many differences between the two poems. Whereas The Waste Land is set in London, the center of imperialism, Gisangdo is set on the peripheries of imperialism, specifically in colonial Seoul and semi-colonial Shanghai. Likewise, Gisangdo reimagines the rise and fall of civilization—which was visualized in Europe by The Waste Land—through the imagery of East Asia in the 1930s.[6]