A Random Monii

So today in class we covered the first poem in Afrikaans I actually liked. Wonders will never cease. I did a bit of research on the poet and it turns out he was one of the big name guys in Afrikaans writing. It’s here under the cut, along with the English translation.

Kom Vannag in my Drome - N. P. Van Wyk Louw

Kom Vannag in my Drome
As dit donker is en stil;
Reik my jou hand deur die drome,
En ons sal dwaal waar ons wil.

Kom, in die sterreduister
Sal ek jou siel erken;
Soos elke nag in die duister
Sal ek jou oë ken.

Soos rook sal ons siele sweef
Steil deur die sterrenag,
Bo oor die donker berge,
Bo oor die donker nag.

Bo oor blydskap en liefde
Wat hierde wêreld ken,
Sal one in roerlose straling
Die ewige skoonheid ken,

Die skoonheid wat ons ‘n oomblik
Sien flicker en vergaan
Tussen die donker dinge
Waardeur ons lewes gaan

Met ewig-swille weemoed
En halwe herinnering
Wan iets wat was, en nog swewe
Oor ons herinnering;

Wan iets wat ons nooit kan kry nie,
Van iets wat ons nie kan sien,
Die hart van droom en verlange,
Dié sal one siele sien,

Lief, as jy kom in my drome,
Kom in die sterrenag,
En ons twee dwaal deur die drome
Bo oor die donker nag.

————————-

Come to me in my dreams tonight
When all is dark and quiet
Reach through the dream, give me your hand
And we will wander where we want.

Come, in the starry dusk
Your soul I’ll recognise;
As in the darkness of every night,
I will know your eyes.

Our souls will drift like smoke
Steeply though the starry night
High above the darkened mountains
High above this dark night.

High above happiness and love
To this world well known,
Shall we in suspended radiance
The everlasting beauty know

We glimpse for a moment the beauty
Which flickers and wanes
In between the dark things
Through which our lives flow

With ever-quiet sorrow
And with half remembrance
Of something that was, and is still
Beyond our rememberance;

Of something we can never find,
Of something we can never see,
The heart of dreaming and of longing,
That our souls will see,

Beloved, if to my dreams you come,
Come on a starry night,
And the two of us through dreams will wander
Beyond the darkest night.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Writing/Poetry, School. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.