Poems Found in Translation- A Z Foreman

Poems Found in Translation: “Jan Slauerhoff: Dame Seule (From Dutch)” plus 1 more Jan Slauerhoff: Dame Seule (From Dutch)  Posted: 18 Mar 2015 04:30 AM PDT Dame Seule By Jan Slauerhoff Translated by A.Z. Foreman She feels in trees' dark shade such loneliness She starts to give her own shoulder a caress. Her small hand, ravished by the curve that flows In naked beauty over the summer dress, Sinks down, and wanders...she sits up, blushing, and goes Back to her modest task of hemming clothes. The Original: Dame Seule Zij voelt zich onder 't donker van de boomen Zoo eenzaam, dat zij zelf haar schouder liefkoost. Haar handje, met de ronding ingenomen, Die over 't zomerkleed is bloot gekomen, Daalt af, dwaalt af; zij richt zich op en bloost, Gaat dan weer voort een kleedingstuk te zoomen. Jan Slauerhoff: Portuguese Fort (From Dutch) Posted: 17 Mar 2015 09:16 PM PDT Slauerhoff wrote the first draft of this poem (originally titled Portugeesch Welkom "A Portuguese Welcome") in 1922, at the age of 24 during his first visit to Portugal. The poem was inspired by a visit to an abandoned fort by the harbor of Leixões. The speaker conjures forth an imagined a past which cannot be revived. The welcome cannonade does not resound, and an awareness of cruel colonial reality - of the misery in which forts and harbors of this sort are instrumental - knifes the imagination. Portuguese Fort By Jan Slauerhoff Translated by A.Z. Foreman Behind the elegant tipped palisade,  The plaza's hot enamel plate slopes low.  For admiration the seraglio  Bends over the alabaster balustrade  Convinced that many a tender detail lies Unveiled in tulle dusk where the heavens fade.    Over the handheld fan, a flicker of eyes  As red lips slurp away at lemonade.   The general commands a cannonade  Of welcome. No shots fire. Still as death's shade.  A hero is not proven in bravado  Of restless din, but in the bastinado1 Of negro slaves, the whip on the black body  Under the cheer of 'Viva Liberdade'2 Notes: 1 - Bastinado: footwhipping, a type of corporal punishment. For more on that see this wikipedia article. 2 - Portuguese for "Long live liberty." The original reads "Vivo Liberdade" which is probably a careless mistake. Either that or a sign that Slauerhoff's Portuguese wasn't yet up to snuff. The Original: Portugeesch Fort Achter elegante palissaden Helt het plein, een plaat van heet émail. Voor bewondering veil buigt het sérail Over de albasten balustrade; Overtuigd dat menig teer détail In den tullen schemer zich laat raden. De oogen flikkren over de' éventail, Roode lippen slurpen limonade. De generaal gelast een kanonnade Tot welkom. 't Blijft doodstil, geen schot brandt los ‘Heldenmoed bewijst zich niet door daden Vol druk rumoer, dan maar een bastonnade Van negerslaven, ranselt er op los Onder 't gejuich van: Vivo Liberdade!’