Vice Councillor of the Privy Council (樞副) Yi Insik (仁植) answered in verse, so I replied again李樞副仁植見和。復答之。
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) 東國李相國集 · Yi Gyubo · Compiled 1241 (Goryeo, 28th year of King Gojong); revised and enlarged 1251 · 4 passages · 111 Chinese characters · reading time 1.2 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Former Collection, Book 18 The collected writings of Yi Gyubo of Goryeo, gathered and cut in woodblock by his son Yi Ham in 1241 and revised and enlarged by his grandson Yi Ikbae in 1251. It holds poems and rhapsodies, memorials and reports sent up to the king, records written for temples and pagodas, stele and tomb inscriptions, letters and prefaces, and the state letters that passed to and from the Mongols during the invasions. The Lay of King Dongmyeong, which sings the founder of Goguryeo, stands in volume 3 of the first collection, and the daily life of a man who called himself the White Cloud Layman — with his wine, his zither and his verse — fills the later collection. The book closes with the last poem he wrote as his eyes failed and he laid down the brush, and with the dirge and tomb inscription others made for him after his death.
1First poem
源出驪江派正連。況今同侍九重天。鄕一姓一時相。邑老應將盛事傳
Our source rises from the Yeo River (驪江) and our branches run straight on
How much more now that together we attend the ninefold heaven
From one district and one surname chancellors have come at one time
And the elders of the district will hand down this flourishing thing
Interlinear notes 1
同出黃驪縣故云。
We both came from Hwangnyeo district, and so I said this.
2Second poem
梓鄕當日日舒遲。伴棹觥船送酒池。臨別一篇君記否。倡兒奉硯筆如馳。
In those days spent in our home country the sun went slowly by
And paired at the oars we floated the wine boat and passed the time on the pool of wine
Do you remember that one piece made at our parting
The singing boy held up the inkstone, and the brush seemed to run
3Third poem
相子元非虎瞵形。如何邊境擅功名。只緣胸蓄龍韜策。坐使胡兒莫抗行。
A chancellor's son has by nature no look of a glaring tiger
So how was it that on the frontier you had fame and merit all to yourself
It is only because you stored the stratagems of the Dragon Sheath (龍韜) in your breast
And sitting still made the barbarians unable to stand against us
Interlinear notes 1
君屢從軍有功。
You went several times on campaign and had merit there.
4Fourth poem
飛騰桂籍一時榮。未必雲霄萬里行。點額龍門君莫恨。位高才備足平生。
To have flown up into the laurel register (桂籍) was an honor of its time
But it does not mean one must go ten thousand li through the cloudy sky
Do not resent having struck your brow at the Dragon Gate
If your place is high and your talents complete, that is plenty for a lifetime