Stanley H. Barkan

A Boat Ready to Set Sail

Arts & Literature

“In his preface to A Boat Ready to Set Sail, a collection of the poems by Pak Yong-chŏl, Sung-Il Lee says the poet’s name was ‘writ in ink,’ if Keats’ was ‘in water.’ Without any concern for the recognition of poems on pages of journals or anthologies, nay, neither the tinsel glory of prizes that shimmer in the sun but are not gold, Pak’s poetry is a cup overflowing with sunlight. The reader of this English translation is lucky to have a sip of such passionate, overflowing liquid of light to be released, if only momentarily from the dark waning moon of a depressed life. Drink and set sail!”

Counting the Stars at Night

Arts & Literature

“In Counting the Stars at Night, we English readers are presented with the paradox of the certainty of death, vitiating existence and making any efforts in life to be basically pointless. This is a dismal thought, and yet Dong-ju’s poetry strives against this futility by exhibiting beauty and truth in every line, as if to deny the inevitability of death as the be-all and end-all.”

Nine Peaks

Arts & Literature

“Rhee Sukho's poems in classical Chinese, as translated by Sung-Il Lee, capture our imagination through imagery and lyricism, with the background sound of water dripping from and onto bamboo leaves and the whispering mist amidst the trees and stones of the mountains of memory. Reading this book is a trilingual, cross-cultural treat that spans great distances and even greater time periods.”

White Village

Arts & Literature

“Sung-Il Lee’s translations of his grandfather’s poetry have made an arduous journey from one language to another. The journey was more than worthwhile. The poetry is rich in narrative lyricism that links from there and then to here and now. It is a genuine saga replete with the imagery of nature and a mosaic of the poet’s memory of being with his friends, sharing wine, while exchanging lines composed.”