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Notes on Writing Poetry,
            by Chon Sang Pyong

These notes were published at the end of Chon's third volume of poems (Chon Sang-pyongun Chonsang shiinida).

The translation is included in the English-only edition by Cornell but was too long for the bilingual edition so I offer it here

 Let me expose briefly how I write poetry. There is no room for detailed notes on the composition of each individual poem, but I can explain how I see poetry-writing in general terms.

 I consider poetry to be the king of literature.

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In literature there are many different genres: you have novels, essays, childrens' stories, drama. But poetry is topmost among them.
 By that I mean that poetry is the truest of all. A lying poem is no poem.

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A poem is the truest of all truths. We cannot live if once we abandon truth.
 Joy is one expression of truth. I love to laugh. The critic Kim Ju-Yon once commented that he could no