Winternag
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Introduction
Eugene Marais is the defining Poet of Afrikaans Literature. He lived in the Early 20th Century. Stung by the 1899-1902 War against the British he refused to write or have his work published in any other language than Afrikaans. This web site sets out to take the hereto unknown works of this fantastic poet into as many languages as possible.
Feel free to translate one of the poems here or to add on of your favourites. We are open to all contributions. This is an open Source project and, edit or take as you wish. Please do not vandalise the work of others. I retain the right to the final edit.
If you have questions mail me
Afrikaans Original : Eugene Marais
Winternag
O koud is die windjie
en skraal.
En blink in die dof-lig
en kaal,
so wyd as die Heer se genade,
lê die velde in sterlig en skade.
En hoog in die rande,
versprei in die brande,
is die grassaad aan roere
soos winkende hande.
O treurig die wysie
op die ooswind se maat,
soos die lied van 'n meisie
in haar liefde verlaat.
In elk grashalm se vou
blink 'n druppel van dou,
en vinnig verbleik dit
tot ryp in die kou!
English Translation : Philip Copeman
Winternight
Oh cold is the wind in the night
It shines naked in the half light.
As God's mercy is shadowy wide
Starlit veld lies with nowhere to hide.
High in the mountainous breeze
Sprayed in the waving seas,
the grassland is moving
like hands waving with ease.
Oh sad is the voice
of the East winds friend,
like the song of a maiden
love lost with no choice.
In each grassleaf fold
A shiny dewdrop takes hold,
And swiftly it bleaches
To frost in the cold!
English Translation : slashmais
(More-or-less a direct translation of the Afrikaans poem)
So cold the wind
and sharp.
And shining in the half-light
and bare,
as wide as the Lord's mercy,
lie the fields in starlight and shadow.
And high on the ridges,
dispersed among the burns,
the grass-seeds are moving
like beckoning hands.
So sad the tune
to the east-wind's rythm,
like the song of a girl
in her love forlorn.
In each grass-blade's fold
shines a drop of dew,
and fast it pales
to frost in the cold!
To give some perspective on the original poem: EM started to write a poem of a Boer soldier on guard-duty during the Anglo-Boer War, but for some reason ended up with the poem as it is now. I hope this direct translation give the non-afrikaans readers greater opportunity to appreciate those translations that attempt to convey the rhyme, rythm and emotion of the original.
