Winternag
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.

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!

Translated by Guy Butler

____________________