Sijo is a traditional poetic form written entirely in Korean. A sijo is composed of three lines, each line averaging between 14 and 16 syllables. This is the typical type of sijo, called the “general sijo.” However, sijo poets of different generations deviated from this characteristic and increased the number of letters in each line. This type of sijo is called an “editorial sijo.” Sijo is a literary genre, but it can be put to a tune and sung as a song. The most well-known way to turn a sijo into a song is to set it against orchestral music and this discipline of music is called “gagok가곡” in Korea. The music piece to start off today’s Sounds of Korea is a gagok titled “Pyeongnong평롱” and its lyrics are about the disappointment of having to part with a loved one after a short reunion.

“Pyeongnong”/ Sung by Cho Soon-ja

That was a gagok titled “Pyeongnong” sung by Cho Soon-ja. Gagok is traditionally divided into namchang-gagok남창가곡 and yeochang-gagok여창가곡 depending on the singer’s gender. If the singer is male, the song is described as a namchang-gagok, and if female, yeochang-gagok. Sijo first emerged at the end of the Goryeo period. The genre was influenced by hyangga향가 of the Silla Kingdom and the Goryeo Dynasty’s gayo가요. Sijo is typically simple in form but metaphysical in theme. In the early Joseon era scholars known as seonbi선비 wrote sijo pieces that were quite solemn and moral in tone. Since female entertainers, better known as giesang 기녀, took up sijo-writing in the mid-Joseon period, the poems mostly described heartbreaking love between a man and a woman. In the later period even commoners wrote long sijo pieces, which usually satirized the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Sijo flourished during the Joseon era, but it’s still written in varied forms even today. Even the sijo singing style changed as time passed. Rather than singing in a strictly formal gagok style, the sijo poems were set against merrier tunes of folk songs. One of the most well-known sijo songs is the following.

Do not boast of your speed,
O blue-green stream running by the hills.
Once you have reached the wide ocean,
You can return no more.
Why not stay here and rest,
When moonlight floods the empty hills?


Written by Joseon’s most celebrated giesang, Hwang Jin-i황진이, the poem describes a scene in which Hwang tried to tempt her love Byeok Gye-su벽계수 to stay.

Gyeonggi folk song “Noraet Garak” / Sori by Lee Ho-yeon

In the old days “norae” or song indicated the formal songs, such as gagok or sijo, performed by noble or learned men, where as “sori” referred to pansori or folk songs enjoyed by common people. So the title “Noraet Garak” means a sijo accompanied by a melody. Another example of a great sijo was written by the renowned Joseon-era Confucian scholar Song Si-yeol송시열. His sijo expressed his hope of living a peaceful life in natural surroundings. Let’s conclude this week’s Sounds of Korea with a gagok entitled “Cheongsando Jeollo Jeollo” performed by Lee Yun-jin.

Cheongsando Jeollo Jeollo / Sung by Lee Yun-jin