Category: Poems

Today, I looked into the oldest existing poem in the world.

Although it is uncertain whether Gongmudohaga is the oldest poem in the world, it is certainly the oldest existing lyric poem.

Upon research, similar poems from roughly the same period (estimated 1st to 2nd century BCE) exist in Sumerian, Indian, and ancient Egyptian civilizations.
Notable examples include the Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian civilization), Ligurra’s Hymns (Sumerian civilization), pyramid tomb wall inscriptions (ancient Egypt), and the Rigveda (India).

Gongmudohaga, the oldest poem in the world, is estimated to be from the Late Gojoseon or early Goguryeo period, around the 2nd to 1st century BCE.

Original text of Gongmudohaga and Korean pronunciation

公無渡河    공무도하   Gong mu do hah

公竟渡河    공경도하   Gong gyeong do hah

墮河而死    타하이사   Ta ha i sa

嗚呼哀哉   당내공하   Dang nae gong ha

This poem is recorded in historical texts such as Haedong Yeoksa, Daedong Siseon, Cheonggu Sicho, Yeonamjip, and Samguk Yusa. Samguk Yusa was fully translated into English as the book titled Overlooked Historical Records of the Three Korean Kingdoms in 2006.

Content of Gongmudohaga (translated)

My dear, do not cross the river.
Yet you have crossed the river in the end.
Falling into the water, you died.
How shall I bear losing you, my beloved?

The author is unknown but traditionally believed to be the wife of Baek Sugwangbu or Yeok, the wife of Gwak Rijago, who helped preserve the song as a poem.

It is said that the poem was sung/shouted when a woman witnessed her husband drown while crossing a river and sang/cried this lament, which was then recorded and passed down as a song.

Reading Gonmudohaga, I feel that poetry is simply a kind of soliloquy that anyone speaks. It makes me think that there is no separate poet—everyone is a poet in their own way.

If you want to hear Gongmudohaga paraphrased and sung by singer Lee, SangEun: