The Fisherman's Calendar by Yun Sondo - HTML preview

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SINGING OF POVERTY (Seven character, P’agyŏk)




The note for this poem is a teaser. The rhyme does not match; in the third line ko/pu would match the tone but the actual character sequence is pu/ko, perhaps deliberately. Alternatively, it could be a mistake in transcription. There is also the possibility that the poem is a combination of two couplets.



There’s no meat on the table, vegetables lord it here.

There’s no wood in the kitchen; the hedge has seen a purge. 

Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law eat from one bowl; 

father and son take turns wearing the clothes to go out.