Selected Works of Yi Ok

Selected Works of Yi Ok is a translation of Yi's most important works, including Short Odes of Kyŏnggŭm, Plain Verses, and five short stories. Yi was a literary rebel in the Chosŏn society as Williams Wordsworth was in England. Refusing to follow Chinese classical writers, Yi minutely depicts quotidian things and people around him by using the common language people actually uses. Plain Verses contains his poetics in four "difficulties" and it is remarkable that Yi adopts a female voice to depict the love between a man and a woman and her hard married life. His short odes show his deep affection for the "little" things of the world such as insects and flowers. Yi stands out as an independent and unique writer in the late Chosŏn period and this book clearly shows why he is regarded as one of the most popular classical writers.