Foreword
(서시)

Foreword (서시) is a sort of personal manifesto which sets the tone of the poetry collection Sky, Wind, Stars, and Poetry (하늘과 바람과 별과 시). An untitled poem in the opening page of the handwritten manuscript of the collection (people later came to call it 서시, which literally translates to Opening Poem or First Poem), it is a statement of self-resolve. He promises to himself that he will live his life as a good man, being compassionate to his fellow human as well as non-human beings, pursuing only the true and good, so as to have not so much as a speck of shame even in the stern eye of heaven, let alone ordinary mortals. It is the kind of lofty ideal, we might say, that many of us arm ourselves with at a young age when we become more conscious of ourselves and the world around us. But most of us fall astray from it one way or another, buffeted by the myriad forces in life. Yun's resolve might not really be an unfamiliar one in this sense. The difference is that he stayed true to his ideal throughout, which must have been a very difficult thing to do. By not bending himself to accommodate the ways of injustice as most others did, Yun in a way attained a sainthood, like a shining star, a beacon we ordinary folks can draw inspiration from.

The poem remains one of the two best loved works of Yun, together with A Night of Counting the Stars (별 헤는 밤). Most Koreans encounter it in their high school text books, as Yun would rank high up at or near the top in Poetry Hall of Fame if there was such a thing. He certainly deserves the respect, not only as a gifted poet but for his unwavering integrity of never giving up on what he believed in until the end.