구상 시의 ‘강’ 이미지

The Image of the “River” in Gu Sang's Poetry

Literary works often use natural images. Among others, a river, which is closely related to human life, has been the one most frequently appearing as the subject material of literature. The river has emerged repetitively over a long period of time as an object of meditation and contemplation. The rich and varied symbolic nature of the river has attracted philosophical reasoning and the creation of literary works aimed at the river. Based on his Catholic faith, the poet Gu Sang expressed a unique ideological world through the "river" by reflecting oriental Buddhism and Taoism together. That work is the long poetry serial "Christopher's River". This work expresses complicated reasoning centering on the Han River, which is the base of the poet's life and a symbolic national artery. In this regard, this work holds a context of literature history that expresses the poet's genuine reasoning creatively while condensing the meaning of a river shown in Korean poetry. To him, the river is a space for seeking the truth, in which he waits for a savior and is devoted to the savior as well as the field of life where actual life is developed. Taking a walk along the riverside while looking at the river is for him like participating in a religious service and a process of pious seeking for the truth. The truth that he realizes through the river after meditation is the fact that the providence of the Catholic faith and the truth of Buddhist practice of asceticism are not two but one. He tries to treat everything equally without being concerned by relative notions, and to embrace everything without discrimination. As the river flows to everyone with the same appearance, he believes that the river of Catholicism, the river of Buddhism, and the river of Taoism are one. Also he practices this reasoning as part of his actual life. In this sense, Gu Sang's poetry is not to make us feel impressed but is to require us to practice. His poetry whispers to us to proceed on the path to true seeking of the truth.