
The rhyme is kyŏn/ch'ŏn/hyŏn/wŏn; tones match and parallel expression occurs in the second and third couplets. There is some doubt about the ascription of the poem although it is contained in Yi Ŭngsu’s collection.
Everyone else is straight, why are you the way you are,
neck in chest, shoulders at your knees?
You turn your head, but you cannot see the sun;
you have to twist to get a glimpse of the blue sky.
When you lie down, you’re like the heart character minus three dots;
When you stand, you’re like a bow without a string.
Most lamentable of all, for the final trip
your coffin has to be round.