Great Regulars: The book was the leper-poet Han Ha-Un's

first published volume, and it wrought a huge change in the boy who found it [Ko Un]. "It was poems written by a leper," explained Ko Un. "He'd written these very sad, mournful poems as he roamed about the Korean countryside. Somebody had bought it and then abandoned it by the roadside. I felt it had been left there for me. I read it and read it all night through. That morning, I woke up and vowed to myself that I would write poetry like this man, and that's when I became somebody who was determined to write poems relating to my own life."

from Alison Flood: The Guardian: Ko Un's First Person Sorrowful offers a window into an extraordinary life

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