The Prosody of Korean Sijo and Its Redevelopment in English

This work investigates the prosodic features of sijo with regard to parallelism and the cadence of its third line, as well as the modification of such features in English sijo. Contrary to the widely held belief that traditional sijo contain a specific syllabic or accentual metrical scheme, sijo prosody hinges on the parallelism of half lines. This parallel rhythm and the well-known cadence of the third line can be successfully adapted into English sijo. Such modifications of sijo prosody are possible because the sijo rhythm is either intuitively grasped by English sijo poets or specifically modified using the characteristics of English language and poetry. To revitalize sijo and realize its potential as an international literature, its prosody as well as its specific linguistic characteristics need to be understood. Grasping such aspects can help promote sijo as a meaningful global poetic genre that captures everyday thoughts and emotions in its colloquial rhythms.