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 · 3 passages · 84 Chinese characters · reading time 0.8 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.
1The First
甲子相循已六申。天遺遮箇一殘身。調元贊化俱無用。竊祿今還坐得春。
The cycle of years has turned round to a sixth Sin (申) year,
and heaven has left behind this one remaining body.
For harmonizing the primal breath and aiding good rule I am of no use at all,
yet stealing a salary I have now once more sat still and gained a spring.
Interlinear notes 1
予生凡度六申。
Since my birth I have passed six Sin years in all.
2The Second
故故新新密自移。春來春去坐成衰。得年未是人間慶。賀客紛紛意莫知。
The old and the new shift of themselves, unseen by any,
spring comes and spring goes, and sitting still I have grown old.
Gaining a year is no cause for human celebration,
yet guests come thick with congratulations — I do not know their meaning.
3The Third
少年踊躍喜迎正。老境蕭然小興情。賓客塡門慵受謁。兒孫滿座瀨諮名。
When young I met the New Year leaping with joy,
but in old age it is desolate and there is little gladness.
Though guests fill the gate, I am too lazy to receive their greetings,
and though children and grandchildren fill the room, asking their names is a bother.