Hills and mountains, hills and cliffs
Stretch unending out of sight.
Pass one valley on your way
And another lies before you.
Passing along the mountain track
You will see outstretched above you
Spreading branches of ancient oaks
Woven with the cedars’ branches.
The valley climbs the mountain slowly,
Feebly descends the other side,
Like a man by work exhausted.
Many hundreds of ri beyond
Lies the thick snow-sprinkled forest.
Even the wild beast comes not here
And no bird will fly this way –
To Changbai ridge’s lofty lair.
The howling blizzard heaps up drifts
But between, among the bare cliffs,
The eye discerns a solitary track,
Leading ever up and north,
But who can have passed this way?
Perhaps some hunter gone astray,
Trusting fate to wind and snow?
But why should he northward go,
To where ancient snow-haired Paektu
Ever stands on menacing guard
With his tumbling avalanches
And his icy blizzard breath?
Jo Ki Chon (1913 – 1951) North Korea (born in Russia)
Translator not stated
Source: Mt. Paektu, Jo Ki Chon, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1990
Stretch unending out of sight.
Pass one valley on your way
And another lies before you.
Passing along the mountain track
You will see outstretched above you
Spreading branches of ancient oaks
Woven with the cedars’ branches.
The valley climbs the mountain slowly,
Feebly descends the other side,
Like a man by work exhausted.
Many hundreds of ri beyond
Lies the thick snow-sprinkled forest.
Even the wild beast comes not here
And no bird will fly this way –
To Changbai ridge’s lofty lair.
The howling blizzard heaps up drifts
But between, among the bare cliffs,
The eye discerns a solitary track,
Leading ever up and north,
But who can have passed this way?
Perhaps some hunter gone astray,
Trusting fate to wind and snow?
But why should he northward go,
To where ancient snow-haired Paektu
Ever stands on menacing guard
With his tumbling avalanches
And his icy blizzard breath?
Jo Ki Chon (1913 – 1951) North Korea (born in Russia)
Translator not stated
Source: Mt. Paektu, Jo Ki Chon, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1990
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