Shin Kyong-Nim's first volume of poems, Farmers' Dance (Nong-mu), marked a major new step in the development of modern Korean poetry when it was published in 1973. The life of Korea's oppressed rural masses had never before been highlighted in such a manner. For years, the poet had shared that life as a laborer and salesman, and the poems reflect a deep identification with classes and situations that were normally not considered suitable subjects for poetry. This volume offers a full translation of the poems of the expanded 1975 edition, making available in English for the first time one of the most influential works of modern Korean poetry.

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Both translations [this book and The Prophet and Other Stories by Yi Ch'ông-jun (CEAS No. 101)] are excellent examples of quality translations of Korean literature.... The bilinqual version of Farmers' Dance, the fourth volume in a series published jointly by the Cornell East Asia Series and the DapGae Publishing Company, offers readers the rare opportunity of comparing the original with the translation side by side. It marks an important departure in Korean literature in translation that should be of great help to future translators and students of Korean literature. Together [these books] offer deep insight into the social psychology and cultural history of Korea in a time that has yet to receive a full historical evaluation.