Updated 8/20/2022. I’m reposting this without password because so many have requested for the password.
Do NOT plagiarize this and pretend that you’re me on Facebook like that Rosa Mae Aguilar.
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Please do not SHARE the password. Thanks. –pm3
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“You cannot grasp water, but it is inside the soil.
You cannot touch fire, but it is inside the tree.
You cannot hold the wind, but it is resting on the rock.
If you let them be, they will exist everywhere.
The faint blue light makes me sigh.
My white breath turned into snow and tears.
I could not let them drop and hide them.
Despite knowing that they will fill up once again.
I am a fool who dares not shed a single tear.”
1. The OST
To me, the OST, “Aching” by Kassy is instrumental to understanding the love letter.
This was the song that was played in two important scenes: a) when Naksu gave Uk her love letter/servant recruitment flyer, and b) when Uk wrote down Master Seo’s “Words of the Heart.”
I’ve fiddled around with the lyrics from various sources, namely, AlphaSubs, K-Channel, ElyDha Subs, and Kgasa because a single source from Youtube doesn’t make sense.
“Aching”
By KassyBecause of the cold wind, your tears can’t flow.
When your tender heart is about to shrivel up somewhere in a desolate road,
I want to fill you up with my heart so that you don’t stumble
Even when there’s a thick morning mist.Chorus:
Like a flower blooming in the white snow,
I’ve (or you’ve?) endured alone on this rough road.
Your brilliant, beautiful name,
I’ll engrave it deep in my longing heart.Yesterday’s sun in the middle of the day was brief.
Even after a long night, it (or you?) won’t come back till dawn.
Will you sit down and stay one step back?Chorus:
Like a flower blooming in the white snow,
I’ve endured alone on this rough road.
Your brilliant, beautiful name,
I’ll engrave deep in my longing heart.Even if you must hide and wipe your tears, lean on me sometimes
because I’m the only one to give you my all.Your bright and dazzling name
That I will always miss
I have engraved it in the depths of my heart.
In short, the OST sings about a lover waiting for the beloved to walk out of the early morning fog. The beloved is weary and exhausted, so he/she is invited to stay for a while and lean on the lover. The lover will energize him/her like no other.
Additionally, the OST mentions the beloved’s name that’s engraved on the lover’s heart. I’m assuming that name is similar to Jin Seolran because the lyrics also mentions a flower blooming in the white snow and enduring alone in the rough road.
Just keep the gist of the song in mind. I’ll refer to it in a bit.
Now, back to the poem.
2. The “Words of the Heart” from the mages’ perspective
Without the context of a love letter, the poem reads like texts from a Confucian, Buddhist, or Taoist classic.
The first stanza conveys a universal paradox that elements of nature, like water, fire, and wind are everywhere yet are difficult to control. Water is everywhere, even in the ground we walk on, but we can’t hold it. Fire is everywhere, even inside a leafy tree, but we can’t hold it. Wind is everywhere, even upon a motionless rock, but we can’t hold it. So…
Why bother hold on to them? They’re everywhere. Just let them go.
Intellectually, I can understand this. You can’t hold on to something that surrounds and envelops you since you are the one within its grasp.
The second stanza then goes from universal to personal. It tells us, that, while water, fire and wind are certainly impossible to hold on to, it’s still a much easier task to grasp them than to hold back human sadness and longing. We try to hold in our tears when we’re aching for somebody.
But why bother? We’re full of tears. Just as it’s foolish to hold onto natural elements, it’s foolish to hold back our human nature to love, yearn and exist. Just let the tears flow.
That’s MY interpretation of Master Seo’s work. As you can see, even without the love letter angle, it still imparts something deep and metaphysical.
You’re free to come up with your interpretation. I’m sure there’s more than one way of interpreting it. Just please don’t argue with me or go emailing me about somebody else’s interpretation because there’s no point; I’m not a literature graduate.
Now, here’s how I interpret the poem in context of a love letter from Master Seo to Jin Seolram.
3. The meaning of “Words of the Heart” from a lover’s perspective
The mages who’ve read Master Seo’s “Words of the Heart” didn’t grasp the true meaning of the book. It’s about love, and love is expressed in every word of the book.
In fact, if I was bold enough to add a line to the text, it would be this sentence: “You cannot see her name, but it is engraved in my heart.”
I would have re-written the first stanza like this:
You cannot grasp water, but it is inside the soil.
You cannot touch fire, but it is inside the tree.
You cannot hold the wind, but it is resting on the rock.
You cannot see her name, but it is engraved in my heart.
If you let them be, they will exist everywhere.
The name of the beloved is important.
That’s the important clue from the chorus of the OST, “Aching,” and that’s what we see in this scene when the name alone opened the secret of the book.
I find it ironic that the true meaning of the “Words of the Heart” eludes the mages because they didn’t understand Master Seo’s heart. The most essential word, her precious name, is left unsaid. It didn’t need to be revealed because:
a) it’s paradoxically everywhere in the book, and
b) only the real recipient of the letter needed to know the true contents and secret message of the book.
Moving on to the second stanza…
“The faint blue light makes me sigh.
My white breath turned into snow and tears.
I could not let them drop and hide them.
Despite knowing that they will fill up once again.
I am a fool who dares not shed a single tear.”
Of course, IF we’re going to interpret this with the soul shifter’s blue mark in mind, then it’s relatively easy to understand. Master Seo is in despair to see that blue mark blooming in Lady Jin’s eyes. And his despair summons forth a wintry mix of snow and tears.
My problem with this interpretation is that it lacks soul (sorry for the pun).
However, if we’re going to read this second stanza as a love letter, then the faint blue light refers to twilight. In astronomy, twilight is the time either before dawn/sunrise or after dusk/sunset. It’s considered a most romantic time.
To me, the OST provides yet another clue. The persona in the song is waiting for dawn. The sky will have a faint blue light just before daybreak.
In the love poem, the faint blue light makes Master Seo sigh because it means another day without Jin Seolram by his side. (Obviously, he wouldn’t need to write a letter if she was by his side. Right?)
His white breath = in the cold air, you can see your breath because of condensation. His sighs produce a misty fog.
Turns into snow and tears = this is poetic description. Her absence makes him feel the bitter cold. His longing for her makes him want to cry.
I am a fool who dares not shed a single tear = he can’t allow a single teardrop to fall because he’ll cry a river if he does so.
He won’t be able to stop the pain if he lets go of his grip on his feelings.
That’s the meaning of Master Seo’s love letter to me.
Updated to add this, in case some of you still did NOT get my point. 🤪 The mages ONLY understood “Words of the Heart” as a Confucian/Taoist/Buddhist text meant to impart wisdom — or food-for-thought — for the advanced mages in their application of magic. But Uk understood the book as something more. He knew that it was a very personal expression of Mage Seo’s foolish but most wretched, most heart-ACHING (remember the OST!), and most desperate longing for Jin SeolRan who was gone. Gone = euphemism for dead, dying, departed.
Worm-food.
Next, I’ll discuss the meaning of “Words of the Heart” from Uk’s and Naksu’s perspective. I’ll create a Part 3 so the lurkers can read it.
I love how your interpretation has the song lyrics interweave with the text. Thank you, @packmule3.
Simply beautiful. It’s even more moving with this interpretation. Thank you so much @packmule for sharing this, this is a work of art.
You are like a miracle of the day to me! Thank you @pm3. I will share more thoughts later. I don’t know why I keep thinking of the poem and it helps improve my memory because I already memorize it by now.
Thank you for a beautiful interpretation of a beautiful poem. Reading your analyses and the comments of others makes Saturday come faster.
Oh my!! @pm3 you are so amazing. I got teary eye lol
1. Your password already put me on the Pride & Prejudice (P&P) memories
2. Your description and song of the lover coming in the early morning fog, made me think of P&P 2005 movie version where Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy is walking towards EB house. The 2005 movie version is my favorite so far. I can watch it over and over it.
3. I like your different interpretations based on perspectives.
Thank you!!! You’ve really helped with this one. I cant always go back to the sections and important parts of the series. I’ve been having a hard time really recognizing UK and MD love story. I get the story but I wasnt wowed by it. I think cause i’m missing the little details. This helps!!!
I have to catch up on the past post as well. Thanks for sharing the password!!! I got very excited and came home eager to put some time to read post and be able to respond lol
When mages worked together to end the drought in Daeho, the ice stone fell with the huge hailstones that came down as Master Jin danced. The unmelting hailstone was not discovered until after the mages’ drought-ending rites. Its appearance was unexpected and its properties unintended.
Daeho was wracked by chaos as mages battled amongst themselves, causing the entire nation to suffer. The bloodshed was a result of a desire to gain exclusive control of the ice stone and the soul switching properties of the powder it generates. What had once been a serendipitous discovery used to benefit the nation almost became the downfall of Daeho. Master Seo, with Master Jin at his side, ended the war by gaining control of the ice stone and sealing it. It was in this milieu that Master Seo wrote “Words of the Heart” to his beloved.
@Packmule3, I agree the mention of faint blue light in the poem is to twilight. I think specifically it is referencing the way the sky looks early during winter dawn, when the sun angle is low in the northern hemisphere. (Daeho may be a fictional place, but I think we’re safe to assume it corresponds to the Korean Peninsula in terms of latitude and climate.) When the sun’s rays hit the ground at a shallower angle (as opposed to more directly, in summer), the energy of the sunlight is weaker. In contrast to the warm sun of a summer dawn, a winter dawn may bring little relief from the cold. For those suffering through bitter winter, sunrise may hold empty promise.
Because I’m a language nerd, I love it when I’m reminded to stop and pay more attention to a word. Twilight. Two lights. Not night, not day, but a mixture of both.
And you know me: I like to research things to understand them better. Looking at timeanddate.com reminded me that twilight is divided into astronomical twilight, nautical twilight, and civil twilight.
–Astronomical twilight begins in the morning or ends in the evening when the geometric center of the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. The horizon isn’t discernable, and to the casual observer the sky appears fully dark, but for astronomers there’s too much light to study diffuse light sources such as galaxies, nebula, and globular clusters. For most Kdramas, this would be irrelevant, but since astronomy plays a large role in AoS, it might be good to keep in mind.
–Nautical twilight begins in the morning or ends in the evening when the geometric center of the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon. If there’s no fog or other things restricting sight, the horizon is visible even under moonless conditions. Sailors are able to take reliable readings using known stars because they can see the horizon.
–Civil twilight begins in the morning or ends in the evening when the geometric center of the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. It ends in the morning when the sun rises above the horizon; it begins in the evening when the sun sinks below the horizon. Only the brightest stars and planets can be seen. If there’s no fog or other visual restrictions, the horizon can be seen and terrestrial objects discerned without artificial light.
I looked at 2022 statistics for Seoul, South Korea, to compare winter with summer. On the summer solstice, June 21, daylight is 5 hours, 12 minutes longer than on the winter solstice, December 22.
–Astronomical twilight, summer solstice: 3:16-4:00am, 9:06-9:51pm
–Astronomical twilight, winter solstice: 6:09-6:41am, 6:19-6:51pm
–Nautical twilight, summer solstice: 4:00-4:39am, 8:27-9:06pm
–Nautical twilight, winter solstice: 6:41-7:14am, 5:46-6:19pm
–Civil twilight, summer solstice: 4:39-5:11am, 7:56-8:27pm
–Civil twilight, winter solstice: 7:14-7:43am, 5:17-5:46pm
“The faint blue light makes me sigh.
My white breath turned into snow and tears.”
Whether metaphorically or literally, Master Seo sighed to see the faint blue light. Conditions were so extremely cold that his exhaled breath not only condensed, but froze. (This happens in Siberia, for example.)
Why do people sigh? According to a study reported on in Psychology Today (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-babble/201304/why-do-we-sigh),
“In general, the experimenters noted that sighs are associated with a negative mood—a sign of disappointment, defeat, frustration, boredom, and longing. Not too surprising. In addition, the students reported that they sigh in public roughly as often as they do in private, suggesting that it may not be a form of communication, per se.”
Researchers compared feelings associated with test subjects themselves sighing versus seeing others doing so. “…Participants imagined people to be sighing from negative feelings 10 times more often than for positive reasons. Furthermore, when others sigh, it’s perceived as sadness—but when we sigh, we do so out of frustration.”
The last three lines of the poem convey Master Seo’s frustration with himself. He calls himself a fool for hiding his tears, unable to shed them. But why would seeing the dim light of day cause Master Seo to feel disappointment, defeat, frustration, boredom, longing, or sadness? The ache in his heart centers on Jin Seol Ram; we know this because her name makes visible the words of his poem. Master Seo’s heart is not comforted by the promise of a coming day, or promises foretold in the night stars. Awake, as if in vigil, as night turns to day or day to night, Master Seo’s pain is not relieved.
Could this enduring pain be why Master Lee, the pupil of Master Seo, believes a mage can only reach greatest potential if chaste? Master Lee believes sexual/romantic involvement is a distraction from reaching the goals of lifelong study. If watching Master Seo suffer because of his beloved caused Master Lee to form this opinion, it could be that Master Lee misunderstood. Master Seo, in his poem, does not attribute weakness to being brought to tears, but to being unable to let them flow. “If you let them be, they will exist everywhere.” By suppressing his tears and emotions–trying to deny something as ubiquitous as water, fire, and wind–Master Seo, himself, creates an impediment to his magical force.
I believe Uk will come to a different conclusion than Master Seo or Master Lee. By allowing himself to love, even when it brings tears, I think Uk will become a more powerful mage than either of them.
@carolina I had the same feeling as soon as I saw my email this morning but I interpreted it as miracle! I’m again thankful @pm3!
As I was trying to understand and interpret the love letter, what came up to my mind are the factors or circumstances that Master Seo had at the time of writing rather than the my interpretation. Was he in a battle? Was he dying, if not at that moment, maybe soon? What hinders him from expressing his love? There are endless factors.
In the world of the mages. we don’t know if there are other love letters by Master Seo, this could be just one of those. There might be also other ancient “things” that might help Jang Uk and Mudeok to lead them where they should be.
Kalimera and thank you for the invitation @Packmule3!
Your interpretation is beautiful as always! Thank you for doing a comperatitive analysis also on the “Aching” Song.
P.S. I keep it short, because today, unfortunately, I forgot my eyeglasses that I use when I am working on a computer, so I will return later tonight to write some more.
Thank you @pm3 for the password and this interpretation. As someone who is generally bad with poems this was very helpful and easy to understand. I could somewhat grasp the romantic aspect of the poem, though not as detailed as you but I struggle a lot with the Confucian style poems. Especially when they come in cdramas lol. So thank you for this.
Also sending finger hearts your way for making another post for the lurkers. I understand how it is important for you and the blog to give the access to regular commenters here but I’ve been on the other side for a while too, so I feel for the lurkers. Don’t worry, not sharing the password with anyone. Just appreciate that they will have something great to read too while we wait for next episodes.
Amazing! Your interpretation of the poem helped me fully grasp the character’s emotions. You are very generous with your thoughts. I am grateful.
@Packmule3
This is so heartwarming. It helps me be patient and wait.
Thank you for sharing. I am ready for more thoughts on our OTP’s emotions.
Thank you for sharing the password and the lovely analysis. I have always been in awe as to how well you dissect each drama plot in depth and come up with such interesting thoughts, which ultimately reflects such a well written blog.
The OST hits the right spot for this particular episode too! Looking forward to Part 3 at your convenience
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I just lost an enormous comment 😩😩 it was:
•gushing praise for @pm3 with the idea to combine the lyrics and the poem
• a list of scenes in which the song has played
• the English translations from jkpoplyrics and cafehallyu for the song that’s played during the scenes when Yul is thinking of Naksu. It’s Just Watching You by Jeong Sewoon. One translation seems more content at long as Naksu is protected and happy and the other seems to convey more longing. Maybe once I’m over my frustration I will try again
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