Kim Sowol’s “Azaleas” | A Quiet Reading of Korea’s Beloved Poem

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Korean Poem

진달래꽃

Azalea Flowers

김소월 Kim Sowol

Korean Poem

진달래꽃

— 김소월

나 보기가 역겨워
가실 때에는
말없이 고이 보내 드리우리다.

영변에 약산
진달래꽃
아름 따다 가실 길에 뿌리우리다.

가시는 걸음 걸음
놓인 그 꽃을
사뿐히 즈려밟고 가시옵소서.

나 보기가 역겨워
가실 때에는
죽어도 아니 눈물 흘리우리다.

Simple English Background

Azalea Flowers is a poem about farewell. The speaker is being left behind, but does not beg, blame, or cry openly. Instead, the speaker says that if even the sight of them has become hateful to the beloved, they will send the beloved away quietly. The poem is powerful because the sorrow is not shouted. It is held inside with restraint, dignity, and han.

About Kim Sowol

Kim Sowol was a Korean poet. His real name was Kim Jeong-sik. He was born in 1902 and died in 1934. His poems are loved for their Korean folk-song rhythm, restrained emotion, and deep sorrow.

Who is speaking in the poem?

The speaker is not necessarily Kim Sowol himself. The speaker’s gender is not clearly stated. Many readers hear a traditional Korean voice of farewell, longing, and restrained sorrow. What matters most is the heart of someone who is being left behind, yet still speaks with painful dignity.

Where are Yeongbyeon and Yaksan?

Yeongbyeon is a real place in today’s North Korea, in Pyeonganbuk-do. Yaksan means Yaksan Mountain, a mountain in the Yeongbyeon area. In the poem, Yaksan becomes a poetic place filled with azalea flowers, memory, love, and farewell.

Important Korean Words Explained

진달래꽃

Azalea flowers. 진달래 is a pink spring flower familiar in Korea. 꽃 means flower.

나

I / me. This is the speaker of the poem.

나 보기가

Seeing me / looking at me. The speaker imagines that the beloved can no longer bear even the sight of them.

역겨워

In modern Korean, this can mean disgusting or repulsive. In this poem, it is better understood as “so hateful or unbearable to see.”

가실 때에는

When you leave. 가시다 is a polite form of 가다, meaning “to go.”

말없이

Without a word. The speaker will not argue, beg, complain, or accuse.

고이

Gently, peacefully, carefully, with tenderness.

보내 드리우리다

I will send you away / I will let you go. This is polite, poetic, and old-fashioned Korean.

영변

Yeongbyeon. A real place name in today’s North Korea.

약산

Yaksan Mountain. A mountain in the Yeongbyeon area.

아름

An armful. As much as someone can hold in both arms.

사뿐히

Softly, lightly, gently. It describes a delicate and careful movement.

가시옵소서

Please go. This is a very polite and old-fashioned expression.

Stanza-by-Stanza Meaning

Stanza 1

The speaker imagines the beloved leaving because the speaker has become hateful or unbearable to see. Still, the speaker says they will let the beloved go quietly and tenderly, without saying a word.

Stanza 2

The speaker says they will gather azalea flowers from Yaksan in Yeongbyeon and scatter them on the departing path. The flowers represent the speaker’s love, heart, and final gift.

Stanza 3

The beloved will step over or tread upon the flowers as they leave. Since the flowers symbolize the speaker’s heart, this image becomes painful. The speaker asks the beloved to tread softly.

Stanza 4

The poem returns to the first line. The speaker says they will not shed tears, even if they should die. This does not mean the speaker is not sad. It means the sadness is held inwardly.

Why does the speaker say, “I will not cry”?

The line “죽어도 아니 눈물 흘리우리다” does not mean the speaker feels no sadness. It means almost the opposite. The speaker says, “I will not cry,” but that refusal to cry makes the hidden grief feel even stronger.

Educational interpretation

In Korean literary interpretation, this line is usually understood as irony. The speaker says they will not shed tears, but the statement makes the hidden grief feel even deeper.

Han, restraint, and dignity

This line can also be understood through the Korean feeling of han and the culture of emotional restraint. Han is not just sadness. It is a deep, unresolved sorrow carried inside the heart.

Ae-i-bul-bi: sorrow held with restraint

애이불비, written as 哀而不悲, means to feel sorrow, yet not fall into uncontrolled grief. In Azalea Flowers, the line “죽어도 아니 눈물 흘리우리다” reflects this feeling. The speaker says, “I will not shed tears,” not because there is no pain, but because the pain is endured inwardly.

Very Simple Summary

The speaker is saying:

If even the sight of me has become hateful to you, and you must leave, I will not stop you.

I will gather azalea flowers and scatter them on your path.

Even if you tread upon those flowers, even if you tread upon my heart, I will still ask you to go softly.

Even if the sorrow is unbearable, I will not show my tears.

Translation Note

Translation note: In modern Korean, “역겹다” can mean disgusting, repulsive, or even nauseating. But in this poem, translating it as “disgusting” would sound too physically harsh in English. “If the sight of me has become hateful to you” keeps the pain of rejection without making the English sound too physical or too blunt.

English Translation

Azalea Flowers

— Kim Sowol

If the sight of me has become hateful to you,
and you choose to leave,
I will send you away quietly and gently, without a word.

From Yaksan Mountain in Yeongbyeon,
azalea flowers,
I will gather them by the armful and scatter them on the path you take.

With every step you take as you go,
upon those flowers laid before you,
please step softly over them as you leave.

If the sight of me has become hateful to you,
and you choose to leave,
even if I should die, I will not shed a tear.

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