Winternag
Eugène N. Marais
Eugène N. Marais
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!
___________________________
Winter Night
Eugène N. Marais
So cold now the wind is
and spare.
And bleak in the dim light
and bare,
as wide as God’s mercy is boundless,
the scorched veldt lies starlit and soundless.
And on the high lands
through burnt soil lone strands
of seed-grass are stirring
like beckoning hands.
So sad now the song is
on the east wind full-borne,
like a girl’s song of longing
when love is forlorn.
In the fold of each blade
a clear dewdrop is made
that swiftly the cold turns
to rime as it fades!
Translated by John Irons
___________________________
Winter Night
Eugène N. Marais
O Cold is the slight wind
and sere.
And gleaming in dim light
and bare,
as vast as the mercy of God,
lie the plains in starlight and shade.
And high on the ridges,
among the burnt patches,
the seed grass is stirring
like beckoning fingers.
and sere.
And gleaming in dim light
and bare,
as vast as the mercy of God,
lie the plains in starlight and shade.
And high on the ridges,
among the burnt patches,
the seed grass is stirring
like beckoning fingers.
O tune grief-laden
on the east wind's pulse,
like the song of a maiden
whose lover proves false.
In each grass blade's fold
a dew drop gleams bold,
but quickly it bleaches
to frost in the cold!
on the east wind's pulse,
like the song of a maiden
whose lover proves false.
In each grass blade's fold
a dew drop gleams bold,
but quickly it bleaches
to frost in the cold!
Translated by Guy Butler
____________________
