This article aims at examining some poems written by Younghill Kang(1903-1972) who has often been hailed not only as the first Korean American writer, but also as one of the first Asian American writers. Although he wanted to be recognized as a poet rather than a novelist, his poems fell short of expectations. Imitative of such an English Romantic poet as William Wordsworth, they are often immature and ill-conceived. The same can be said of his translations of Korean poems. Aided by his wife Frances Keely who published poems in the United States, Kang translated some traditional and modern Korean poems. His command of English, however, is not refreshing. In rendering some Korean poems into English, he fails to grasp the original savor and spirits. In particular, co-translation by Kang and his wife of Yong-Woon Han"s Meditations of the Lover are notorious for mistranslation and near-mistranslation. In sum, Younghill Kang was a novelist, but hardly a poet.
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