David McCann wants sijo, an ancient form of Korean poetry, to catch on.

Professor David McCann wants an ancient form of Korean poetry to catch on the way haiku has.

Haiku is downright famous in the United States; American schoolchildren commonly learn its 5-7-5 syllable pattern. But for some reason, sijo, an ancient Korean poetry form with three lines of 14 or 15 syllables each, hasn't caught on the same way.

David McCann, Korea Foundation professor of Korean literature and director of Harvard's Korea Institute, wants to change that. As described in the June 30 Boston Globe, McCann is mounting a campaign to popularize sijo (pronounced shee-jo) that includes a nationwide contest for schoolchildren and creation of an online sijo journal in English. (The article page also features a lively audio interview with McCann, in which he explains sijo and then demonstrates how it was traditionally sung.)

The campaign also includes a sijo contest; enter through Friday (July 3) at https://www.boston.com/living.

The Globe article includes two samples, including this one that McCann, who first encountered sijo as a Peace Corps volunteer in Korea in the late 1960s, wrote in English at Charlie's Kitchen in Harvard Square two years ago:

All through lunch, from my table, I keep an eye on your disputes,

Green lobsters in the bubbling tank by the restaurant door.

Slights, fights, bites—whatever the cause, make peace and flee, escape with me!

and this one from the fourteenth century:

The spring breeze melted snow on the hills then quickly disappeared.

I wish I could borrow it briefly to blow over my hair

And melt away the aging frost forming now about my ears.

See McCann's faculty webpage for more information about him, including the courses he teaches.

You might also like

Bringing Korean Stories to Life

Composer Julia Riew writes the musicals she needed to see.

David Leo Rice on 'The Berlin Wall'

David Leo Rice explores the strange, unseen forces shaping our world.

Harvard Summer Reading Picks | 2025

The wealth gap, shamanism, the life of David Nathan, and more

Most popular

Harvard art historian Jennifer Roberts teaches the value of immersive attention

Teaching students the value of deceleration and immersive attention

How MAGA Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.

Explore More From Current Issue

Man in gray sweater standing in hallway with colorful abstract art on wall.

How Do Single-Celled Organisms Learn and Remember?

A Harvard neuroscientist’s quest to model memory

Illustration of scientists injecting large syringe with mitochondria into human heart.

Do Mitochondria Hold the Power to Heal?

From Alzheimer’s to cancer, this tiny organelle might expand treatment options. 

Book cover of "Black Moses" by Caleb Gayle with subtitle about ambition and the fight for a Black state.

Civil Rights in the American West

A new book chronicles one man’s quest for a Black state.