Dawn of Labor

An English translation of the legendary South Korean poet Park Nohae’s first collection, published in 1984 when he was twenty-seven years old. Despite a government ban, the book sold a million copies and propelled Park Nohae as the generation’s leading resistance poet. Dawn of Labor, at last translated into English, is the legendary South Korean poet Park Nohae’s first collection, published in 1984 when he was twenty-seven years old. Despite a government ban, the book sold a million copies and propelled Park Nohae as the generation’s leading resistance poet. Dawn of Labor is an enduring classic that shook a society, transformed lives, and demonstrated the power of poetry.

The war of night labor once over,
I pour cold soju over my aching heart.
Ah . I can’t go on like this for long.
For sure, I can’t go on like this.
—"Dawn of Labor"

If I ever kill myself, I’ll probably do it at dawn.
—"For a Peaceful Evening"

We too want to become heaven.
Not a dark clouded heaven
that presses down,
but a clear blue heaven
over a world that lifts one another.
—"Heaven

Translator: Cheehyung Harrison Kim, Brother Anthony

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