“I pressed the poem down on paper,
“My scattered mind has found its place.”

Ranked #1 in Seoul National University lecture evaluations, the best "literacy teacher"
77 Life Poems Chosen by Na Min-ae

★★★★ Required liberal arts courses for freshmen at Seoul National University
★★★★ tvN "You Quiz on the Block" Hot Topic
★★★★ A collection of poems and commentaries, all of which have been in high demand by readers for the past decade.

“In 77 poems, I convey 77 feelings.
If even one line of them stays in your heart
“This book has already done its part.”
- Na Min-ae

Professor Na Min-ae, known as the 'daughter of poet Na Tae-ju of the Wildflowers' and the 'top-rated teacher at Seoul National University's lecture evaluations', is also famous as a 'poetry curator' who has loved poetry for a long time.
As a literary critic who debuted in 2007, I have shared the joy of reading poetry by publishing a column introducing one poem to the public every week for over ten years.

Among the readers, some brought bundles of paper with all the columns cut out and tied tightly together, while others completed their own handwritten notebooks, copying poems and commentaries by hand.
Some people cried while reading poetry, and others said they were comforted by writing poetry.
Author Na Min-ae, who received this sentiment, selected 77 poems that are 'good to keep by your side' and added sensible commentary to create 'Life Poem Handwriting Notes'.


This book, which compiles 77 works by poets spanning time and generations, from Jeong Ji-yong to Na Tae-ju, Lee Byeong-ryul, and Hwang In-chan, is like a “Poetry Playlist.”
It is organized so that you can choose to read it according to your emotional state, such as ‘when you need comfort,’ ‘when you want to stay by love,’ or ‘when you feel lonely.’
The added commentary helps readers to stay in their minds for a long time and thus broaden their horizons of thought.

If a poet is a painter, and a poem is a painting, I really want to have this painting.
I want to save up money and go to an unknown gallery and say, “I’ll buy this painting.”
I want to hang it in my room and look at it as if it were hanging in my heart.
Because I also love the night walks that the poet depicted.

--- From "Night Walk"

Even in that short time, we can like a poem, or a poet.
Or you can think back to a time in your life when you had feelings for someone.
It is a very precious thing to recover the love that has been lost.
--- From "Prologue"

Loneliness is a pain, but it is not a disease that needs to be cured.
It's a relief to know that both you and I are lonely.
If we are all lonely together, then we are a little less lonely when we are alone and together.

--- From "When That Really Happens"

So I think about this poem that is only hot without a single word of love.
Have I ever been someone's native language in this life?
Have you ever really welcomed someone in your native language?
--- From "Characters"

Even if we can't meet again, love doesn't end easily.
Only by retracing the path we have walked in love can love finally end.
So, even the return of a lonely heart is ‘love.’
--- From "Love"

When comfort is powerless, I read the most painful poem I know.
We read together the most painful heart that cannot be explained.
Heo Nanseolheon's grief over losing her child did not subside even after four hundred years.
The poet's sadness overflows beyond the poem.
Today's sorrow cannot and does not differ from that sorrow.
--- From "Standing"

Hurt lasts for a moment, but pain lasts a long time.
An incident lasts a moment, but its afterimage lasts a long time.
We remember as if we have forgotten, and we forget as if we remember.
When I'm at a loss as to how to express that subtlety, I read Kim So-yeon's poetry.

--- From "Yes"

The most miserable moments in life are the most painful moments, and the moments when we most want to live.
There won't be much you can't do then.
I have no choice but to struggle with all my might.
The poet cannot describe the dawn when fish are flapping about as a lively market or as a surging life force.
Because I saw myself in the whole body pounding against the floor.
--- From "Yuktak"

We often hesitate, feel anxious, and fearful.
It's not that we are particularly lacking.
Because it's life, I'm anxious, and because I'm human, I'm scared.
The poet speaks to us who are trembling on the stepping stone.
It's okay, you can put your feet in the river.
You can cross.
This gives me courage.
Sometimes we want to be brave.
So I secretly hope that someone will tap my hunched shoulder and give me some encouragement.
This poem is exactly that kind of poem.
--- "Until it becomes a river"

'Blue Bird's' happiness was inside the house, but George Hoon's happiness was not inside the house either.
The poet says that happiness lies closer and deeper than home, right within the heart.
Besides, happiness may or may not be there.
As the saying goes, ‘all is mind’, a single, formless dot of mind can either make today into heaven or ruin it into hell.

--- From "On Happiness"