Moon well

‘There is no sound in the mirror. No world would be quieter than this.’ This is what poet Yi Sang had to say in his poem ‘The mirror.’ Like most other poems by Lee, he seems to have known something. Reading his poems reminds us of his story of the mirror. As he said, poems are a truly serene world. Since they are composed of language, they are soundless. Even if there is audible emotion, it is no different from the sound in our dreams. For this reason, people say that poems are behind the bars of language.

However, there is a poem that is quite the opposite. Apparently, it is just soundless colorless prints of black and white, but this poem makes us to feel as if we are watching a scene in a move. This poem contains dynamism and switching of scenes, and a heart-throbbing climax. The title is ‘Moon well.’ If you just think it would be calm and tranquil after taking a glimpse, you are totally misguided. The screen of this poem is projected on night sea. When the sea and sky is about to turn calm after storm passes, the full moon arises. The poem presents an outstanding description of the moon. The moon arises between the sky and the sea, shedding moon lights, which is expressed as a ‘torn wing’ in the poem. The moon drinks water through the descending moonlights. The situation of the big, wide ocean being ruled by the moon looks overwhelming. Watching this scene, readers get overwhelmed as well.

The poem is not moving, but it moves around in my heart when I read it. I can draw and delete the sea, the sky and the moon in my heart. The fun of creating a world on my own: this is the biggest benefit one can gain when reading poems.