Consideration of Shin, Seok-cho’s Goryeo Gayo-Accepting Poetry

Abstract

Shin, Seok-chol was well-read in the classics of both East and West, and had profound knowledge of Confucianism, Buddhism, especially the thought of Lao-tzu & Chung-tzu. In addition, influenced by Paul Valery’s emotional aim and poetic style, Shin, Seok-cho paid more attention to our classical poetry, such as Goryeo Gayo, arriving at reflecting it in his poetic works. Shin, Seok-cho published five complete poetic works in total. Also, he published two copies of translation with note, and translated The Books of Songs around 1975. In 1985 after his death, complete poetic works and complete books of prose came out Shin, Seok-cho had a tendency to adapt the initially published poetry in case he re-published, or re-included his poetic works, which he had already published, in a collection of poems for completion of absolute poetry. The poetic works, which accept Goryeo Gayo among Shin, Seok-cho’s poems, include Prelude to Bara Dance, Bara Dance, Swan Dream―after the Model of Jeonggwanjeonggok, Isanggok, November, December Love Song, Cheoyong Shaman Song, and Cheoyong says. Prelude to Bara Dance, Bara Dance and Cheoyong Shaman Dance are accepting more than two works of Goryeo Gayo, whereas the rest of his poetic works are doing re-writing targeting specific Goryeo Gayo. Goryeo gayo accepted in Shin, Seok-cho’s poems includes Cheongsanbyeolgok, Jeonggwajeong, Manjeonchun Byeolsa, Dong Dong, Isanggok, and Cheoyongga, etc. Looking into Shin, Seok-cho’s Goryeo Gayo-accepting poems, there is a case where Shin, Seok-cho used a subtitle as shown in Swan Dream-after the Model of Jeonggwajeonggok, but unlike Yoon, Gon-gang who published Goryeo Gayo-accepting poems in an almost contemporary period, Shin, Seok-cho didn’t use a line from Goryeo Gayo as a subtitle. but accepted Goryeo Gayo for the body of his poems only. In addition, Shin, Seok-cho is enhancing the degree of literary completion by borrowing the style & feelings of Goryeo Gayo, or using the right lines of Goryeo Gayo in the right position of his poems. The value of Shin, Seok-cho’s Goryeo Gayo-accepting poems is noteworthy in that his poetic works were created with ‘A Defence of Classics’, which came to the fore during the period of Japanese occupation, as the background. Such an aspect can be called succession to ‘A Defence of Homeland Poetry’ of age-long origin, and its practice in our literary history. And now, if we are to give a description of the so-called ‘Literary History of Re-Writing’, it’s possible to discover another value in that Shin, Seok-cho and his Goryeo Gayo-accepting poems become a very significant writer and works that come to garnish the beginning of such a literary history.