Christianity in Kim Hyun-seung’s poetry

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze how Kim Hyun-seung’s thoughts about Christianity have changed throughout his poetic works. Considered to be a Puritan-like-figure, Kim Hyun-seung is regarded as the most representative Christian poet in Korea. His works, often written in a solemn mood, are characterized by prayer and devotion to God. In Autumn, the significant season for Kim, he gets immersed in religious contemplation. As a solely wandering bird in his works, the raven symbolizes his religious soul. However, Kim was skeptical about the religion during his middle period due to the limitations of Christianity. His frustration was accompanied by solid solitude with the loss of God, which is in opposition to Kierkegaardian solitude. After suffering from a crisis of death, he returned to Christianity with absolute faith in his final years. His oscillation between the religious faith and the recognition of reality reflects his persistent pursuit of religious ethics, which cannot be fully satiated.