이항복이 활동했던 선조와 광해군 연간은 당쟁과 전란으로 점철된 시대라 할 수 있다. 비록 당쟁 초기에 이항복은 불편부당한 인물로 알려졌지만 정치권에 있으면서 그 역시 끝내 당쟁의 소용돌이에서 벗어나 있을 수 없었다. 그리고 다섯 차례 병조판서에 임명된 사실이 단적으로 말해 주듯이 그는 전란 기간 동안 매우 중요한 역할을 담당했던 인물이었다. 당쟁의 각박함과 전란의 위중한 가운데서도『백사집』에 실려 있는 그의 시를 읽어 보면 항상 해학과 풍류의 여유로움을 잃지 않음을 볼 수 있어 넉넉한 그의 인간됨을 느낄 수 있다. 더욱이 재상의 지위에서 물러나 만년에 지은 시, 특히〈정사의〉를 올리기 전후한 시기로부터 임종 시기까지 지은 시들과 이 무렵의 일화들에는 생을 돌아보며 죽음 앞에 초연한 그의 사생관을 엿볼 수 있다.

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  Lee Hang-bok(1556～1618), whose pseudonym was Baeksa, was one of prominent prime ministers who served King Seonjo and King Gwang- haegun. He delivered the nation out of great hardships, and was among typical men of noble birth who were an achievement official and outstanding writer. There were an extreme party strife and disturbances of terrible war during the two kings whom he served. Although he was known as a fair official at the onset of party rivalry, he couldn"t avoid being involved in it in the end. He played a vital role during the war, which can be inferred from the fact that he was appointed five times as Byeongjopanseo that meant a defense minister. Baeksajip, a collection of his poems, showed that his good humor and taste remained intact even in the middle of the harsh party strife and miserable war, and it was a good example to prove his good personality and humanity. He held himself aloof from the world and death in his last years, and his transcendental view of life and death was well described by his late poems written after retiring from his official post, especially by the poems written when and after he submitted Jeongsaeui(丁巳議) to the king and till his death, and by his anecdotes during that period of time.

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