Regret in Exile

Kwang-hai. (Circa 1610 A.D.)

Kwang-hai was a usurper who murdered his half brother, Prince Yung-chang, the rightful heir to the throne. Kwang-hai then made himself king and reigned for eight years. His excesses provoked a revolt. This drove him from the throne and into exile on the island of Quelpart. During the eighteen years of his miserable imprisonment he wrote a number of poems. Their tone is savagely despairing but they have a certain individuality which sets them apart from the general work of the period.

The north wind blows the dreary autumn rain

From street to street. Around the city wall

A cold mist hangs. It drips from stone to stone,

                                                      Echoing tears.

I hear the tide roar up the lonely sand

Where tall green reeds are drenched with rain and spray.

Thinking of these, awhile, my homesick heart

                                                   Forgets her fears.

Dreaming, I wander up and down the shore,

But not one passing vessel speaks to me

And not one echo from the silent hills

                                                   Answers my call.

I know not if my State goes up or down.

Nothing remains for me but wind and waves

Or blinding mists that, like my weary tears,

Drip from the wall.