Gyeongpo: Heo Nanseolheon

This is a statue of, I think, Heo Nanseolheon - Korea's great female poet of the Joseon Dynasty.

A Love Song

On the calm autumn pond, jade-blue ripples glitter;
She moors her boat where lotus flowers bloom.
Seeing her love across the water, she throws a lotus seed,
And blushes for half a day, worrying that others may have seen.

- from "The Moonlit Pond"

This is just an exquisite poem.



It is believed that Heo Nanseonheon commited suicide at age 27 after suffering from depression due to the early deaths of both her children. She reminds me of a South African female poet, Ingrid Jonker, who also commited suicide at a fairly young age (31), and let us not forget of Sylvia Plath, yet another poetic genius to commit suicide. I'd like to write something, maybe an essay, still, on poets and depression.