An Chang-ho
He arrived in San Francisco,
Through Hawaii,
And taught his fellow countrymen
How picking carefully even a single tangerine in an orchard
Could be an act of patriotism.
Although he felt like he might wane,
In that painfully rough spring in San Francisco,
He worked from dawn ‘til late at night
Solely for the future of Korea.
In order to work for Korean independence,
He organized the secret Sinminhoe Association,
And established Daeseong School in Pyeongyang,
To raise talent for the restoration of Korean sovereignty.
He helped An Jung-geun in his execution of Ito Hirobumi,
Supported armed independence struggles, by participating in the establishment of the Provisional Government of Korea in Shanghai–
Went everywhere: Vladivostok and Mishan in northern Manchuria,
the Philippines, and many other places around the world.
It is for your sake that I go.
Although I go, I won’t be gone.
It is for the future of Korea
That I go to Siberia and the Manchurian plains,
Like a floating weed.
Without knowing when I’ll return,
On board a ship across the Pacific Ocean,
It is to San Francisco that I go.
“Don’t complain that there is no great personage in Korea—
Be that great personage yourself.”
Although he died prematurely at just 60,
The dawn had already broken in the sky of his fatherland
And the spring was approaching for the great nation of Korea.
안창호
하와이를 지나
샌프란시스코에 도착해
과수에서 귤 하나를 정성껏 따는 것이
곧 나라를 위하는 것이라고
동포들에게 가르쳤다
샌프란시스코의 봄은 괴롭고
힘들어서 스러질 것 같았지만
오직 조선의 미래를 위해서
아침 일찍부터 일했다
조선의 독립을 위해
신민회를 비밀리에 만들고
평양에 대성학교 만들어
국권 회복을 도모하고
안중근을 도와 이토 히로부미 처단
상해 임정을 만들어 무장투쟁 지원
블라디보스토크와 북만주 밀산
필리핀과 전 세계를 다녔다
간다 간다 너를 위해
내가 가면 아주 가냐
조선의 미래를 위해
시베리아 만주 벌판
나의 몸은 부평초야
돌아올 기약도 없이
배 타고 태평양 건너
샌프란시스코야 간다
조선에 인물이 없다
한탄하지 말고 스스로 인물이 되라＊
육십에 일찍 세상을 떠났지만
조국의 하늘에 서광이 비추고
대한의 봄이 온다.
＊ 도산 어록
*This stanza is a modified version of An Chang-ho’s own poem. [Translator’s Note]
**An Chang-ho’s words.
Translated by Seung-Hee Jeon (literary critic and translator, editor of Asia: A Magazine of Asian Literature)
