A Warm Family

Poems

By Kim Hu-Ran
Translated by Cho Young-Shil

Subjects: Poetry, Korean Studies
Imprint: Distribution Partners
Paperback : 9781930337800, 120 pages, December 2014

Table of contents

Preface
Part 1
Where Could That Isle Be?
An Early Morning Walk
In a Silvery World
Tears of Flowers
Gazing upon the Wildflower
I Burn Incense
Magnolia Sings Majestically
This Moment
A Tree and a Bird
A Farmer and an Ox
By the Sea of Whales
Roots of Civilization
The Mirror with King Muryeong’s Portrait
On the Loom
The Stone Pagodas at Bulguk Temple
Joy to Be Breathing
On the Eve of Gathering Stars
Part 2
In the Night Sky
Family
A Warm Family
My Family
Letter to Switzerland
A Quince Tree from Suyoo-ri
Early Spring
Family: A Herd of Elephants
Family: Toby Dawson
The Launch
On This May
That Night
Words of Love
Mother-Flower
Our Old Home
Rainy Night
Gazing up at the Stars of Hope
Part 3
My Watch
Spring Day
In the Spring Sun
Dew Nymph
Tale of a Mountain
Suddenly One Day
Treasure Trove of Memories
I Arise at Dawn
Looking into the Mirror
Hope
O Dreaming Bird
Brilliance of Life
For a Young Man
On a Windy Hill
We Have a Journey to Take
Part 4
Seoul Forest, My Beloved
Mountain!
Dawn
The River Lives
In a Grass Field
New Day’s Light
Everything That Fades
The Grand View around Woonak Mount
Rainy Day
Mountain in Summertime
I keep Telling Myself I’ll Climb a Mountain
Gift of Late Autumn
An Early Aubade
I Too Became a Breaking Wave
Nature is a Gift from God
Part 5
To the One Who Asks the Way
Maybe Time Is a River
On the New Year’s Eve
On a Snowy Day
A Blessed Day
Memories on a Windy Day
Moss of time
As We Have Faith
On This Joyous Christmas
With a Candle Lit
Commentary
About Kim Jae-Hong

The first collection in English of this renowned Korean poet's work.

Description

In this collection of poems, Kim Hu-Ran explores the intimate relations between individuals and groups, from lovers and families to the whole of the world, and between man and nature. Sung in a compassionate voice, these poems affirm that Love is the cure and remedy for the deeply fractured modern world. A Warm Family, Kim's latest work, woven in highly personal style and lyric tenderness, makes us see light and hear music in it.

In addition to her work as a poet, Kim Hu-Ran has worked as a journalist and as an advocate for women's rights, serving as director of the Korea Women's Development Institute and as a member of the Women's Policy Assembly. Currently she is Vice-President of the Korean Center of PEN International. This is her eleventh volume of poetry, and the first to be translated into English. Cho Young-Shil is a retired English teacher and now works as a translator and writes poetry for young adults.

Reviews

"Kim Hu-Ran's ultimate poetic quest is for the poetics for hope and peace … Since her debut as a poet in 1960, the major theme of her poems has been the pursuit of hope, that is, the move from darkness to light, sorrow to joy, despair to hope. Her poems also manifest the unwavering conviction that all human activity and poetry should be rooted in the spirit of peace. " — Kim Jae-Hong, Kyung Hee University