Considering the birth of Korean modern poetry which spurred by denying the traditional concept of 'lyricism', lyrical verses seem to be one of the oldest and the most commonplace genre of all kinds of poems. But still, it should not be neglected that the very old power of 'lyricism' which has kept us to feel, to be touched by, to communicate with and to compromise with the world around us is also the origin of the poetry itself. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential and the future of the Korean poetry by examining the growth of the concept "lyricism" understood in each phase of the modern history of poems in Korea. No matter what approach or ideology they may pursue, almost all of the literary theorists agree with the fact that lyrical poetry is the literature of the first-person perspective, expressing the poets' individuality, and in essence falling in the domain of subjectivity. However, looking into the historical development of the Korean poems, we realize that the world of lyricism has not been limited in the realm of subjectivity. In other words, first-person perspective, uniqueness, and a highbrow sense of beauty which were pointed out by the traditional tripartite approach of lyrical poems are now variously reflected in the modern poems. Lyricism, in short, exists in competing forces of various fields like the essential human sentiment and the phases of the times when the poems are written. It is the conflicts among the diverse forces which renew the older concept of lyricism, separate lyricism from non-lyricism, and finally make history together. Inevitably, identifying what kinds of meanings lyricism has follows specifying the range of lyricism. At this point, we should remind ourselves of the fact that lyricism is not only concerned with the emotion but also with the human spirit. Additionally the key phrases like 'emotions without wickedness' or 'sensibilities' which describe lyricism, ultimately indicate metaphysical high integrity, spiritual tastes toward purity, subconscious inclination for the balanced world where reconciliation and coexistence are possible. Therefore, the spectrum of the lyricism ranges from the realm of rhythm which is primitive and musical in nature to the world of pure transcendency which is essentially ideal and mandatory. Besides the rhythm and the ideality, there exists a third axis consisting of the lyricism: recognition of the realities. This third factor is important because lyricism which only pursues ideality and shuns the realities fails to convey the universality of emotions in the contemporary lives. Since the end of the ideological era, there have been various movements of returning to lyrics in the Korean poetry. Although lyrical poems become more popular than the past, it remains still in doubt whether the Korean modern lyrics are balancing the tensions arouse from the aspects of rhythm, reality, and ideality mentioned above. Here I'd like to suggest considering the zen poems as a possibility that lyricism can achieve a higher spiritual goal, not going too far, for examples, to radical idealism or transcendentalism. The tradition of zen poems proves that the spiritualism in the Korean history of poems has its deep roots and solid foundation. Accordingly, it is worth while to pay attention to the succession of the tradition of zen poems. This kind of trend which is, in general, called 'spiritualism', speaks for the practical needs to overcome the moral crisis in the modern society, and ultimately indicates the fulfillment of the lyrical demands to pore into the origin and to try to unify the disruptive world. Therefore, we need to see in the tradition of zen poems the positive power of lyrics which returns to the source of life, rebutting the criticism on the zen poems like the mystical transcendence to escape from the realities. The Korean poems faces the pending issues to cope with the civilization fostering materialism and brutal competition, to recover the human dignity and to accomplish the spiritual highness through lyricism. To achieve these goals, strict reflection of the self and sharp insight into the world should be adopted into the sphere of lyrical poems. In this vein, deep thoughts and a sense of beauty expressed by zen poems can propose a direction to the self-realization of lyricism.