Rind, Be Gone
Shin Dong-yup (1930-1969)
Rind, be gone.
Leaving only the kernel of April,
Rind, be gone.
Rind, be gone.
Leaving the shouts from Gongju
in Donghak revolution,
Rind, be gone.
Hence, again,
Rind, be gone.
Here, in the wedding hall of neutrality,
Glowing with shyness,
Asadal and Asanyeo
Shall stand and bow at each other
With their chests and privates exposed
Rind, be gone.
From Mount Halla to Baekdu
Leaving only the fragrant bosom of earth,
All the pieces of iron, be gone.
1967
(Translated by Jido Ahn. April 2017)
Learn more about the poet: Shin Dong-yup (1930-1969)
This link also includes an alternate translation of the poem. I personally find this translation too liberal, as the translation completely ignores denotational meaning in some lines and includes lines that are not mentioned in the original poem. It seems like the translator was trying to make it easier for the readers to digest the poem. I would not say this is a wrong translation, however, since this is a matter of what you value the most in translating literary works. I personally try not to alter the intention of a poet as much as possible, while keeping the poem comprehensible to readers. There may be some lingering question marks, but trying to answer them is itself an attempt to understand the particular poet and the literary tradition in which the poem was written.
껍데기는 가라
신동엽 (1930~1969)
껍데기는 가라.
사월(四月)도 알맹이만 남고
껍데기는 가라.
껍데기는 가라.
동학년(東學年) 곰나루의, 그 아우성만 살고
껍데기는 가라.
그리하여, 다시
껍데기는 가라.
이 곳에선, 두 가슴과 그 곳까지 내논
아사달 아사녀가
중립(中立)의 초례청 앞에 서서
부끄럼 빛내며
맞절할지니
껍데기는 가라.
한라에서 백두까지
향그러운 흙 가슴만 남고.
그, 모오든 쇠붙이는 가라.
1967
Read other poems by Shin Dong-yup:
Ahn Translation 
Pingback: Spring – Shin Dong-yup | Ahn Translation
Reblogged this on Daniel Paul Marshall and commented:
Jido translates Korean poems from the original & for anyone who can read Korean, he annexes the original text. i like to do a back & forth between the original & Jido’s translation, to see what i know & sometimes when i have time i break out my Korean dictionary & have a scour through.
Jido translates a lot of contemporary poets & many poets of the 20th Century, so if you’re looking to get into Korean poetry his site is an ample resource for discovering poets you might otherwise find it difficult to root out— get over & show him some support.
I’m flattered, Daniel! I hope readers from many different places to have an access to Korean poetry when they want. Compared to the diversity we have in Korean literary circle, the translation of it has been too scant to catch it up. Thank you so much for sharing this work and my blog. 🙂
I’ll continue to do what little i can to help you. But if you want readers you have to work for them. Using tags well helps. Make tags general & keep the under 13. My recommendations to you would be tags like #contemporary poetry #poetry #poetry in translation #Korean poetry #Korean literature #culture #nature & then pick a simple theme from the poem so perhaps #grief #war #politics #love #death. People don’t search WordPress for specifics they search generally. I promise if you do this more readers will come.
i should study Korean more so i can get involved.
Thanks for the tip. I’m not really too serious about gaining readers, but I will work on the tags when I have time. I’ve used about four or five tags per post, some of them not too generic. I’m getting a steady readership, although it is not a lot. But it would be nice to have more readership for sure.