Jack Jung: Echoes of Yi Sang

Published: Dec. 16, 2020, 7 a.m.

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Jack Jung shares poems in which he hears echoes of the themes, musicality, and imagery of Korean modernist poet Yi Sang. Shadow selves recur in each selection: Jung introduces early recordings of James Tate in 1968 on sparring with his shadow (\\u201cShadowboxing\\u201d) and W.S. Merwin in 1969 reading a mythical poem about anti-creation (\\u201cThe Last One\\u201d). He also discusses Sawako Nakayasu\\u2019s playful, desperate poem in which ants become a double of humans (\\u201cBattery\\u201d). Jung closes with his translation of Yi Sang\\u2019s \\u201cCrow\\u2019s Eye View, Poem No. 15,\\u201d which considers our shadow selves and provides what Jung calls a \\u201cmuch-needed lyrical recognition of our failures and suffering .\\u201d

Listen to the full recordings of Tate, Nakayasu, and Merwin reading for the Poetry Center on Voca:

James Tate (1968)
Sawako Nakayasu (2007)
W.S. Merwin (1969)

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