Analysis of Comparison between Seo Jungjoo Shiseon and Shillacho

『서정주(徐廷柱) 시선(詩選)』과 『신라초(新羅抄)』의 비교분석 - 무속적 상상력을 중심으로

This paper attempts to clarify the similarity found in Seo Jungjoo's two books of poems, Seo Jungjoo Shiseon and Shillacho, and thereby to establish the continuity between Seo's early poetry and his mid-period poetry. This attempt arises from the realization that unfamiliar poetic material, background, and narration are merely surface features, and that in fact his early concerns nevertheless persist in terms of his poetic imagination and his Weltanschauung. Furthermore, this continuity seems to originate from shamanistic spiritual chaos that is consubstantially interrelated with the spirit of his deceased lover. After chaos and confusion subsided, the poet's endeavor to discover the lineal origin of his personal shamanism shows itself in Seo Jungjoo Shiseon, and we witness the embodiment of such endeavor in Shillacho. His interest in the skies as it is expressed in my poem, and Shilla as it is intimated by Gwanghwamun are sublimated in saso yeonjag and the words of Queen Seondeog into shamanic wisdom that served as the norm for both spiritual life and physical life in ancient times, and the wisdom is carried on further into the present in Seo's own times. Moreover, the star and the bell sound that were presented as signs of desirable Weltanschauung in Sangrigwawon are transformed into the symbols of shamanic wisdom, and into the inner magic formula that contributes to achieving the wisdom. This analysis offers as its result the evidence embedded in his poems that shows, first, that the two books correspond to merely two separate stages of his poetic concern, and second, that his early poetic concern persists, though transformed through a peculiar manner, into his mid-period poems.