Sky, Wind and Stars by Yun Dong-ju a translation

[soryang]

To my dying day I will look to heaven,
without a hint of shame,
Even tho' the leaves in the wind,
Tormented me.

With a heart singing of stars,
All things destined to die,
I must love,
This is the way I must walk
The path provided.

Tonight too, the wind brushes the stars


This is a famous poem by Yun Dong-ju. It's the prelude to a book of poems by that author, said to be one of Korea's favorites. He died tragically at age 27 in 1945 just before the liberation according to Dr. Petersen one of America's experts on Korean literature. Dr. Petersen just did a youtube presentation on the poem on his Frog Outside the Well channel. I had tried to interpret the poem over a year ago and recognized it right away. I did not know its historical and cultural significance at the time. I had to correct my interpretation after hearing two translations he presented.