The Moon in a Well

The Moon in a Well – Yi Gyu-bo (Poem in The Moon that Embraces the Sun)

In episode 2 of The Moon that Embraces the Sun (The Sun and the Moon), Heo Yeon Woo wrote a poem for Lee Hwon. The poem is actually “The Moon in a Well” (咏井中月 or 山夕詠井中月) or in Hangul, 산에서 저녁에 우물속 달을 읊다. It’s a peom of the kind of five-character quatrain.

The poem of The Moon in a Well is a beautiful poetry by Yi (Lee) Gyu-bo (이규보 / 李奎報) who lived between 1168-1241, during the Goryeo (Koryo) dynasty, who served in a variety of high-ranking local and central government posts after he passed the civil examination during the reign of King Myeong Jong in 1189.

The Moon in a Well

Here’s The Moon in a Well (詠井中月) poem in its entirety, with Hangul equivalent.

山僧貪月色 (산승탐월색)
幷汲一甁中 (병급일병중)
到寺方應覺 (도사방응각)
甁傾月亦空 (병경월역공)

English translation of The Moon in a Well (詠井中月) by Jeo­Yong Noh:

An acolyte craving the moonlight in a well
Draws water with it into a carafe.
Yet back to the temple, he should see,
Tilting the jar, the moon be gone as well.

The poem basically portrays the desire of human being which is illusory.


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  1. […] The Moon in a Well – Yi Gyu-bo (Poem in The Moon that Embraces the Sun) […]

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