[KS] " Chosun, Be Aware! " Ballad of a Shrimp Crushed by Warring Wales

[Werner Sasse]

Just a little carping  "the ballad rhymes perfectly in Korean line by line. " - I did not find the rhymes... What exactly did you have in mind? Rhyming does anyway seem to be of minor importance in Korean poetry. At least end-rhymes do not work because of the gammar endings, and I did not find any other rhymes in the text. Or did you read the verbforms in the last two line in the traditional sijo way 해자 --> 하이지, 될라 --> 도일라?By the way: 해자...? I need some help here.   "Also the 3-4, 3-4 pattern matches the familiar Korean Sijo(시조) form." You probably meant Gasa, not Sijo. A 3-4, 3-4 pattern is characteristic of Gasa, not Sijo, and so is the semantic parallelism in the list. And this kind of list is another characteristic feature of Gasa, and of folk songs (sic!)and Muga. 
 Nice ballad. Do you know the tune? Best, Werner SasseDate: Sat, 30 Jun 2012 04:46:52 -0500
From: almakoreana at gmail.com
To: koreanstudies at koreaweb.ws
Subject: [KS] " Chosun,	Be Aware! " Ballad of a Shrimp Crushed by Warring Wales

Hello All, 




This ballad became very popular among Korean children soon after Japan's surrender(August 15, 1945), Russia's advance to North Korea(August 1945) and America's march into the South(September 1945). 



The ballad reflects the exact geopolitical situation Korea had been facing for centuries. 




                               



                                  "CHOSUN, BE AWARE!"



  BALLAD OF A SHRIMP CRUSHED BY WARRING WHALES

                                      "조선아 조심해라!"   " Chosun, Be Aware! "        



            미국을 믿지 말고,    Don't Believe America,            소련에 속지 마라!    Don't Be Cheated by Russia!     



            조선아 조심해라,     Chosun, Be Aware,             일본은 일어선다!     Japan Will Rise Again!                 



            조선아 조심해자,     Chosun, Be Alert,             중국에 중화될라!    China May Absorb You!



             ( Last two lines were added later.)
A few reasons for it's popularity may have been that, the ballad rhymes perfectly in Korean line by line. Also the 3-4, 3-4 pattern matches the familiar Korean Sijo(시조) form. 


            
                        		 	   		  
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