The Azalea

by Kim So-wol · translated by Peter Hyun

When you tire of my love
And leave me behind,
Meek and silent, I shall let you go.

I shall pick azaleas
From Mount Yak of Yung-byung
And strew them upon your path.

Then, step by step,
You will tread upon the flowers
As you walk away.

When you tire of my love
And leave me behind,
Though the pain be as death I shall not weep.

Hyun, Peter, editor and translator. Voices of the Dawn: a selection of Korean poetry from the sixth century to the present day. London: Murray, 1960.