Untitled translation (3): iambic

by Kim Sowol · translated by Brother Anthony of Taizé

When you go away at last,
sickened with the sight of me,
know that I shall let you go,
saying nothing, make no fuss;

but climbing high on Yongpyon’s hills,
there I’ll pick azalea flowers,
armfuls of purple, just to spread
along the pathways as you go.

Then go, with muffled parting steps
trampling down those flowers you find
strewn before your departing feet;

and when you go away at last,
sickened with the sight of me, know that for the life of me
I’ll not shed tears then, no, not one.

Brother Anthony (An Sonjae). “Translating Korean Poetry,” Modern Poetry in Translation 13 (1998). https://anthony.sogang.ac.kr/Azaleas.htm.