Songs of the Kisaeng: Courtesan Poetry of the Last Korean Dynasty by Hwang Jini et al. - HTML preview
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Songi
Hush, rooster—boasting as though
you were the first to wake!
No great man is trapped within,
awaiting your voice to unlock the gate.
The one morning my man is still with me
—yet, you yell of escape.
Note: The “great man” in line three refers to Maengsang-kun, a well-remembered Chinese Minister of State. Fleeing at night from the Chin toward the Cheh territories, he is said to have passed through a crucial city gate, not scheduled to open till dawn, by having his companion fake a cock's crow.
