Paradise Lost

Our optional prompt for today asks us try our hand at writing a sijo. This is a traditional Korean verse form. A sijo has three lines of 14-16 syllables. The first line introduces the poem’s theme, the second discusses it, and the third line, which is divided into two sentences or clauses, ends the poem – usually with some kind of twist or surprise.

We could also write a sijo in six lines – at least when it comes to translating classical sijo into English, translators seem to have developed this habit, as you can see from these translations of poems by Jong Mong-Ju and U Tak.

….

In California some people called it Paradise on earth.
But what is paradise if paradise is lost so soon?
And those scorched from existence, while we burn this earthbound paradise?
….