February: Winter Refuge
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"The wind remains watchfully
still, Not allowing any trill of twig Which might break the cristal artwork." In the mountains, snow is a way of life. Covering the land for more than halfof the year, the cultural traditions which have over the centuries emerged here have in a large part been shaped by snow. This week, an image of a winter hut together with a new translation of a beautiful Lowland poem. |
The guest snow poem for this week is Winter
Silence, by the Dutch poet,
Jacqueline van der
Waals:
Winterstilte
De grond is wit, de nevel wit,
De wolken, waar nog sneeuw in zit,
Zijn wit, dat zacht vergrijzelt.
Het fijngetakt geboomte zit
Met witten rijp geijzeld.
De wind houdt zich behoedzaam stil,
Dat niet het minste takgetril
't Kristallen kunstwerk breke,
De klank zelfs van mijn schreden wil
Zich in de sneeuw versteken.
De grond is wit, de nevel wit,
Wat zwijgend toverland is dit?
Wat hemel loop ik onder?
Ik vouw de handen en aanbid
Dit grootse, stille wonder.
Jacqueline van der Waals (1868-1922)Winter Silence
White is the ground, white is the mist,
The clouds, still full of snow,
Are white, turning gently to gray.
Icy white are the delicate branches
of trees covered with rime.
The wind remains watchfully still,
Not allowing any trill of twig
Which might break the cristal artwork.
Even the sound of my steps wants
to hide itself inside the snow.
White is the ground, white is the mist,
What enchanted quiet land is this?
Under what heaven do I walk?
I fold my hands and give thanks
to this greatest of silent wonders.
(tr. Cliff Crego)
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Winter
Silence is
from Jacqueline van der Waals' 1909 collection, New
Poems (Nieuwe Verse). To view a
large collection of her work, as well as biographical information, go the
Dutch website for
classical literature, The
Coster Project. |
(1) Sharp Wind, Ski Tracks, Spring Snow
(2) Twenty Snowy Mountains
(3) Rising Sun, Setting Moon
(4) Snow Circles
(5) Ovid and No Trespassing
(6) Mountain Farmer with Six Milk Cows
(7) Red Ribbons in Snow Storm
(8) Two Lights, Fresh Snow
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See also: new |
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"Straight
roads, Slow rivers, Deep clay." |
A collection of contemporary Dutch poetry in English translation, with commentary and photographs by Cliff Crego |
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See also another website by Cliff Crego: The Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke |
A presentation of 80 of the best poems of Rilke in both German and new English translations: biography, links, posters |