THE POEM



Sijo

I will break in two the long strong back
of this long midwinter night,

Roll it up and put it away
under the springtime coverlet.

And the night that my loved one comes back again
I will unroll it to lengthen the time.

Hwang Chini (early 16th century) was a 
professional entertainer of legendary beauty.
The poem is one of the best known and most 
widely quoted of all sijo.

Sijo is a brief, three-line vernacular lyric form 
which flourished during the Choson Dynasty 
(1392-1910).