Bagyeon Pokpo
Unknown (Gaeseong Oral Tradition)
Region
Gaeseong, Gyeonggi
Genre
Usage
Gyeonggi Folk Song
Recreational Song
Bagyeon Pokpo, also known as Gaeseong Nanbongga, is a Gyeonggi folk song about the famous Bagyeon Falls near Gaeseong. Its melody leaps high, tumbles down, and rises again as if tracing the waterfall itself, so that simply listening brings to mind the sound of rushing water. This record is archive material collected to organize and preserve the representative lyrics and the transmission context of Bagyeon Pokpo.
Commentary & Notes
Bagyeon Falls: A waterfall on the slopes of Mount Cheonma north of Gaeseong, where the stream drops 38 meters from the pond called Bagyeon into the pool of Gomodam below.
Beomsajeong (泛斯亭): A pavilion on the bank beside Gomodam. The water from the falls swirls around the rocks beneath it.
Set to the gutgeori rhythm, the verse and refrain each span four cycles. With few ornaments and frequent leaps, the melody sounds clear and cheerful.
Cultural Background
Bagyeon Pokpo belongs to the Hwanghae nanbongga family of love songs, and the falls themselves were so celebrated that, with the scholar Seo Gyeong-deok and the poet Hwang Jin-i, they were called the "Three Wonders of Songdo." The song appears often in high school music textbooks and is widely sung, yet Gaeseong, the place it celebrates, now lies in the North and is hard to visit.
Lyrics
박연폭포 흘러가는 물은
범사정으로 감돌아든다
에 에헤야 에헤
에루화 좋구 좋다
어라함마 디여라 내 사랑아
The water flowing down from Bagyeon Falls
swirls around Beomsajeong Pavilion
E, eheya, ehe,
eruhwa, how fine, how fine!
Eorahamma diyeora, O my love
