— Overview
Everything has a beginning, the essay says: an event has a cause, a tree a root, a bird an egg, and a person a family and a home. Few people can stay where they started. We grow by moving away, and we keep a longing for that first place, where we were not blamed for being young and where the future looked hopeful. That longing, the writer argues, is why Nostalgia still moves readers and has even been set to music. Before reading the poem, the essay turns to the poet’s life.
Jeong Jiyong was born in Okcheon in 1902, a Catholic baptized Francisco. In 1919, at eighteen, he led a school protest during the March First Movement and was suspended indefinitely; at Whimun High School he helped publish the coterie magazine Yoram. After university he taught English, and in 1930 he launched the poetry journal Simunhak with Kim Yeong-rang and others and joined the Group of Nine. His first collection appeared in 1935, when he was thirty-four, and from 1939 he helped bring poets such as Jo Ji-hoon and Park Mok-wol into print.
Because of his socialist ties, his works began to be removed from textbooks after 1949, and he was later treated as a poet who had gone north, so he was seldom discussed in Korean literary history until 1988, when his works were unbanned after strong support from writers. A literary prize in his name was founded the following year, and Okcheon keeps his birthplace. The reading of the poem follows its five stanzas: a wide field where a stream winds and a spotted bull lows; a father dozing by a cooling brazier on a straw pillow; the soil where the speaker grew, the sky he shot arrows into, and the grass where he hunted them; a young sister with black hair at her temples and a barefoot wife gleaning with their backs to the sun; and, last, a small lit house under the stars where people sit close and talk.
The images are concrete but not unusual, so they belong to many people’s memory. The essay’s highest praise goes to the poem’s synesthesia, as in the bull’s “lazy golden lowing” at dusk.
— Contents and key concepts
A beginning we move away from
Everything has a beginning, the essay says: an event has a cause, a tree a root, a bird an egg, and a person a family and a home. We grow by moving away, and we keep a longing for that first place, where we were not blamed for being young and where the future looked hopeful. That longing, the writer argues, is why Nostalgia still moves readers and has even been set to music.
Jeong Jiyong was born in Okcheon in 1902, a Catholic baptized Francisco. In 1919, at eighteen, he led a school protest during the March First Movement and was suspended indefinitely. In 1930 he launched the poetry journal Simunhak with Kim Yeong-rang and others; his first collection appeared in 1935, and from 1939 he helped bring poets such as Jo Ji-hoon and Park Mok-wol into print. His works began to be removed from textbooks after 1949, and he was seldom discussed in literary history until 1988, when his works were unbanned. A literary prize in his name was founded the following year.
Five scenes, and a sound you can see
The reading follows the poem’s five stanzas: a wide field where a stream winds and a spotted bull lows; a father dozing by a cooling brazier on a straw pillow; the soil, sky, and grass of the speaker’s childhood; a young sister and a barefoot wife gleaning with their backs to the sun; and a small lit house under the stars where people sit close and talk.
The images are concrete but not unusual, so they belong to many people’s memory. The essay’s highest praise goes to the poem’s synesthesia, as in the bull’s “lazy golden lowing” at dusk. The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.
Sources
- Jeong Jiyong: born Okcheon 1902, Catholic, baptismal name Francisco. March First Movement 1919, school protest at eighteen, indefinite suspension; coterie magazine Yoram at Whimun. Simunhak and the Group of Nine, 1930. First collection 1935. Helped debut Jo Ji-hoon and Park Mok-wol from 1939. Removed from textbooks after 1949; little discussed until unbanned in 1988; literary prize founded the following year; birthplace kept in Okcheon. Nostalgia: five stanzas, sensory and synesthetic diction (“lazy golden lowing”).
Last updated: 14 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
When were Jeong Jiyong’s works unbanned?
In 1988, after strong support from writers. Before that, his works had begun to be removed from textbooks after 1949, and he was seldom discussed in Korean literary history.
What are the five scenes of the poem?
A wide field with a winding stream and a lowing spotted bull; a father dozing by a cooling brazier; the soil, sky, and grass of the speaker’s childhood; a young sister and a barefoot wife gleaning; and a small lit house under the stars.
What does the essay most admire in the poem?
Its synesthesia, as in the bull’s “lazy golden lowing” at dusk, which lets a sound be seen and felt.
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