Language Learning Journal #3
Counting the Stars at Night by Yun Dong-ju
David Kim
30262888
david.kim123@richmond.edu
I really enjoyed Prelude by Yun Dong-ju, so I decided to read another poem by Yun Dong-ju. I chose Counting the Stars at Night, which is one of Yun Dong-ju’s representative poems. Counting the Stars at Night is a poem that best shows the characteristics of Yun Dong-ju's poem, which clearly shows the emotion of longing, the emotion of shame, and the willingness to overcome it. In the poem, Yun Dong-ju is counting the stars on an autumn night. He is thinking about his past days when he had a pure heart. Through looking at the stars, he reminds himself of his memories of love, loneliness, yearning, poetry, and his mother. He tells his mother about the things he saw in the stars, which are far away from him. The things he misses are as far away as those stars. He is also in the far land of Japan from Bukgando where he was born and his mother lives. From line twenty-three through line twenty-eight, Yun Dong-ju writes his own name on the hill where the stars shine, but then covers it with soil and erases it. Just as bugs cry all night, the poet mourned about his shameful name all night. His name was reflected in his beautiful and pure life, but poet Yun Dong-ju covered it with soil in shame. Eventually, he is hoping that this hill, which he wrote his name and erased, will be full of grass when this winter ends and spring comes. Yun Dong-ju is emphasizing the seasonal changes of Autumn, Winter, and Spring. These seasons refer to the past, present, and future. It could also be interpreted as longing, reflection, and hope. After projecting the inner world of Yun Dong-ju through the repetition of similar verses, it is elaborated and deeply explained as prose in the next paragraph to embody it. In Counting the Stars at Night, Yun Dong-ju expresses the emotion of longing in the form of a dialogue that seems to be talking to his mother. The characteristics of Yun Dong-ju's poetry are self-reflection, shame, and pursuing the ideal self. It is not clear what thoughts the poet had when he wrote this poem, but it seems possible to understand what emotional state he was in. Poet Yun Dong-ju wrote a lot of poems reflecting on himself because he felt that he was not acting as a proud Korean. Even though he was unable to participate in any independence movements due to his situation during the Japanese colonial era, he was painful that he could not help his nation. He has been thinking a lot about what kind of person he should be and what way to act. Because his present self has not reached his ideal self and still pursuing it, Yun Dong-ju is showing shame about himself. The era of poet Yun Dong-ju was such a vain and painful era. Writing Counting the Stars at Night during a painful time makes the work more beautiful, which makes people think about Korean culture and history.
Korean Resource
https://www.dbpia.co.kr/journal/articleDetail?nodeId=NODE01344296
https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0071330
English Resource
https://allpoetry.com/Counting-The-Stars-At-Night
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