of formal rules. The poems may consist of four, eight or ten lines. The ten-line poems are the most developed, structured into three sections with four, four, and two lines respectively. Many of the ten-line poems were written by Buddhist monks. The extent of the Shilla hwarangs role in the development and flourishing of the hyangga genre is a subject of much scholarly interest. Goryeo songs The Goryeo period was marked by a growing use of Hanja. Hyangga largely disappeared as a form of Korean literature, and "Goryeo songs" (Goryeo gayo) became more popular. Most of the Goryeo songs were transmitted orally and many survived into the Joseon period, when some of them were written down using hangul. The poetic form of the Goryeo songs is known as byeolgok. There are two distinct forms: dallyeonche (단련체) and yeonjanche (연잔체). The former is a short form, whereas the latter is a more extended form. The Goryeo songs are characterized by their lack of clear form, and by their increased length. Most are direct in their nature, and cover aspects of common life. Sijo Sijo is a traditional Korean vernacular poetic form that emerged in the Koryǒ period, flourished during the Chosǒn dynasty, and is still written today. Common themes include, but are not limited to, the following: nature, nostalgia of the past, love interests, historical events, moral instruction. Most were written and enjoyed by the educated yangban class. However, there was an exception to this. Kisaengs were of the lowest class, yet they could partake in creating and reciting sijo. Structurally, 'sijo'''' is widely known to have three lines averaging 14-16 syllables, for a total of 44-46: theme (3, 4,4,4); elaboration (3,4,4,4); counter-theme (3,5) and completion (4,3). However, only a small percentage of sijo actually follow this structure. Instead of syllabic count, it is more accurate to structure sijo with hemistichs or syntactic units. Each line is composed of 2 hemistichs and within each hemistich is a syntactic unit, which is why there are 2 syntactic units in each sijo line. This structure, however, may vary dependent on the type of sijo as well. For instance, narrative sijo (sasol sijo) is more prose-like, with the second line being long and completely expanded. Sijo with the 3-line format follows a common structure of having the first line introduce the situation and establishing the theme. Line 2 elaborates on and develops the information