Poem
Bei Dao
Wintering
Waking up: the northern pine forest—The urgent drum beats of the earth
The alcohol of sunlights stored in the tree trunks
Is stirring the ice of darkness
As the heart and the wolf pack howl to each other
What the wind has stolen is wind
The winter, owing to the debts of heavy snow
Appears greater than its metaphor
Nostalgia is like a king with his kingdom lost
What it searches for is an eternal bewilderment
The sea looks sad, dying for the living
The constellations take it in turns to shine on love—
Who is the panorama’s witness
Who guides the horn call’s rivers
And the rebellion of orchards?
Have you heard it? My love
Let us grow old hand in hand
And hibernate with words
The rewoven time leaves behind
A fastened knot or an undone poem
© Translation: 2009, Tao Naikan and Simon Patton
OVERWINTEREN
wakker: in een pijnbos in het noorden –van de aarde dwingend getrommel
in de boomstam zonlicht als drank
die het ijs van het duister opzweept
terwijl het hart huilt tegen wolven
wat storm ontvreemdt is storm
met schulden van sneeuw is de winter
groter dan zijn beeldspraak
heimwee als heerser van een rijk ten onder
op zoek naar dwaling voor altijd
de zee treurt om de levenden
sterren verlichten om beurten de liefde
wie heeft alles zien gebeuren
rivier die reikhalst naar hoornspel
opstand in de boomgaard
hoor je dat? mijn geliefde
wil dat wij hand in hand oud worden
en samen met de woorden in winterslaap gaan
nieuw geweven tijd laat een doodknoop achter
of een onvoltooid gedicht
© Vertaling: 2009, Maghiel van Crevel
© 2008, Bei Dao
From: Jieju huo kaishi
Publisher: Changjiang, Wuhan, China
From: Jieju huo kaishi
Publisher: Changjiang, Wuhan, China
Poems
Poems of Bei Dao
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Wintering
Waking up: the northern pine forest—The urgent drum beats of the earth
The alcohol of sunlights stored in the tree trunks
Is stirring the ice of darkness
As the heart and the wolf pack howl to each other
What the wind has stolen is wind
The winter, owing to the debts of heavy snow
Appears greater than its metaphor
Nostalgia is like a king with his kingdom lost
What it searches for is an eternal bewilderment
The sea looks sad, dying for the living
The constellations take it in turns to shine on love—
Who is the panorama’s witness
Who guides the horn call’s rivers
And the rebellion of orchards?
Have you heard it? My love
Let us grow old hand in hand
And hibernate with words
The rewoven time leaves behind
A fastened knot or an undone poem
© 2009, Tao Naikan and Simon Patton
From: Jieju huo kaishi
From: Jieju huo kaishi
Wintering
Waking up: the northern pine forest—The urgent drum beats of the earth
The alcohol of sunlights stored in the tree trunks
Is stirring the ice of darkness
As the heart and the wolf pack howl to each other
What the wind has stolen is wind
The winter, owing to the debts of heavy snow
Appears greater than its metaphor
Nostalgia is like a king with his kingdom lost
What it searches for is an eternal bewilderment
The sea looks sad, dying for the living
The constellations take it in turns to shine on love—
Who is the panorama’s witness
Who guides the horn call’s rivers
And the rebellion of orchards?
Have you heard it? My love
Let us grow old hand in hand
And hibernate with words
The rewoven time leaves behind
A fastened knot or an undone poem
© 2009, Tao Naikan and Simon Patton
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