Matching the Rhymes Again, as Vice Minister Yi Replied復次韻李侍郞見和
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 · 2 passages · 112 Chinese characters · reading time 1.2 min
Dongguk Isangguk Jip (Collected Works of Minister Yi of the Eastern Country) Latter Collection, Book 5 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.
What man does not hope to gird a belt at his waist?
Only one of talent as outstanding as yours befits this honor.
It is all because your talent and literary grace shone brilliantly early,
and because you showed and offered your crimson loyalty early as well.
Men in black robes with red belts have not been wanting before,
but black hair with a ruddy face is what startles most.
On the royal steps you are sure to be praised again,
and must go back in to face the bright eyes of a Shun.
What you received is truly like a belt of peony hue,
a singular honor among the ranks of the fourth grade.
The paired red robes that lead the way are about to come trailing down,
and one round of red belt already shows itself first.
Though there are many kinds of beautiful garments,
this one alone startles a man's heart uncommonly.
That night your wife must not have been able to sleep,
stroking it again and again with her hands, waiting for the day to break.