Poem
Ramsey Nasr
The Hudson Sonnets
I - hudson’s shortcutour outcome was that you were in the way
we sailed to that conclusion on a dream
dreamt by a fool: our captain hudson claimed
that he could find a shortcut to the east
go straight and keep the north pole on your left
then you can slip down quickly to the indies
and we believed the guy and followed him
yes, even when he said: “or maybe west . . . ?”
henry hudson had been dismissed before
and when he swore on the shore of a foreign bay
that all we had to do to reach the orient
was set a course straight through america
we’d wisely lowered sail – already wedged
from stem to stern in this new continent
*
II - new amsterdam
the waiting bay lay like an outstretched finger
at the end of an invisible dutch arm
we went exploring, stamping round we found
our way in a deserted fertile backwater
perhaps no other body but ours, which never
managed to win one god, one people for itself
which rose from drifting, loose minorities
could lay the seed for such a babelopolis
who taught you how to use the melting pot?
who said, be equal, be diverse and free
your trade, who told you, dreams can spread like shares?
the true world champions of immigration
we were, a distant spark of liberty
america, the netherlands writ small
*
III - new netherland
oh font of humanism, oh shining beacon
oh cradle of exemplary citizenship
who listens to us now? we have our leaders
they blare their christian values round the place
and mount the moralistic foghorn high
but in america their frightened faces
all gleam with drooling pride, it’s not prime time
but still we steal a slot in the cool white house
what kind of model country toes this line?
we bob along behind the big boss boat
impressive, don’t you think? a fifty-state fleet
with an inspiring airbed at the back
WANTED URGENTLY: foolish fools with vision
who dare to dream and make the cold sea crack
© Translation: 2009, David Colmer
400 years ago, in September 1609, a Dutch East India Company ship sailed into an unknown bay on the North American coast. Captain Henry Hudson hoped to find a shorter, northern route to the Indies. Instead he stumbled upon a territory that would be populated in the years that followed by Dutch merchants and colonists, eventually developing into the most renowned city in the world: New Amsterdam, later New York.
The 400th anniversary of Dutch-American relations was celebrated in the Choir Church in Middelburg on 2 September 2009 in the presence of Princess Margriet, the U.S. ambassador and the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen.
On the invitation of the Roosevelt Study Center, Poet Laureate Ramsey Nasr wrote three sonnets, which he recited during this ceremony. That same day the poems were published in the NRC Handelsblad.
De Hudson Sonnetten
De Hudson Sonnetten
I - hudson’s shortcutin wezen lagen jullie in de weg
wij kwamen meegevaren op de droom
van een malloot: die hudson had gezegd
dat hij een shortcut kende naar den oost
immer gerade aus langs de noordpool
dan kwam je snel in indië terecht
en wij geloofden deze vent, we volgden
zelfs toen hij ijskoud polste: ‘of naar west . . . ?’
kapitein hudson was al eens ontslagen
en toen hij aan een vreemde baai bezwoer
dat we om in azië te raken slechts nog
dwars door amerika heen moesten varen
toen voeren we al niet meer – rotsvast geklemd
van kop tot kont in ’t nieuwe continent
*
II - nieuw amsterdam
de baai lag als een uitgestrekte vinger
vanaf het vaderland op ons te wachten
wij gingen er op pad, we stampten rond
wegwijzend in een leeg maar vruchtbaar gat
wellicht dat enkel uit ons lijf, dat nimmer
één volk, één god voor zich had kunnen winnen
dat zelf oprees uit schuim van minderheden
een babelstad als dit zich kon ontspinnen
wie leerde u hier het ware smelten? wie
zei: handel vrij, wees anders, wees gelijken
dat dromen zich als aandelen verspreiden?
de wereldkampioen in immigreren
dat waren wij, een verre vonk van vrijheid
amerika een holland in het klein
*
III - nieuw nederland
o bron van humanisme, blakend lichtpunt
o bakermat van zeldzaam burgerschap
wie luistert nog naar ons? dat zijn dan leiders
ze schallen hier hun christennormen rond
hangen fraai de morele misthoorn uit
maar in amerika (en nooit prime time)
doen ze het glimmend in hun broek van trots
stelen we tijd in het koelwitte huis
wat is een gidsland nog in zo’n positie?
wij varen braaf achter de grote baas
’t is imposant: een vloot van vijftig staten
plus nog een luchtbed om hen op te jagen
GEZOCHT: grote malloten met een visie
die dromen kunnen en de zee doen kraken
© 2009, Ramsey Nasr
400 jaargeleden, in september 1609, geleden voer een V.O.C.-schip aan de Noord-Amerikaanse kust een onbekende baai in. Kapitein Henry Hudson hoopte een kortere, noordelijke route naar Indië te vinden. In plaats daarvan stuitte hij op een gebied dat in de jaren daarna door Hollandse handelaars en kolonisten zou worden bevolkt en dat zou uitgroeien tot de beroemdste stad ter wereld: Nieuw Amsterdam, oftewel New York.
In de Koorkerk te Middelburg werd op 2 september 2009 het bestaan van 400 jaar Nederlands-Amerikaanse betrekkingen gevierd in aanwezigheid van prinses Margriet, de ambassadeur van de V.S. en de minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Maxime Verhagen.
Op uitnodiging van het Roosevelt Study Center schreef Dichter des Vaderlands Ramsey Nasr drie sonnetten, die hij tijdens deze plechtigheid heeft voorgedragen. Op dezelfde dag werden de gedichten afgedrukt in NRC Handelsblad.
Poems
Poems of Ramsey Nasr
Close
The Hudson Sonnets
I - hudson’s shortcutour outcome was that you were in the way
we sailed to that conclusion on a dream
dreamt by a fool: our captain hudson claimed
that he could find a shortcut to the east
go straight and keep the north pole on your left
then you can slip down quickly to the indies
and we believed the guy and followed him
yes, even when he said: “or maybe west . . . ?”
henry hudson had been dismissed before
and when he swore on the shore of a foreign bay
that all we had to do to reach the orient
was set a course straight through america
we’d wisely lowered sail – already wedged
from stem to stern in this new continent
*
II - new amsterdam
the waiting bay lay like an outstretched finger
at the end of an invisible dutch arm
we went exploring, stamping round we found
our way in a deserted fertile backwater
perhaps no other body but ours, which never
managed to win one god, one people for itself
which rose from drifting, loose minorities
could lay the seed for such a babelopolis
who taught you how to use the melting pot?
who said, be equal, be diverse and free
your trade, who told you, dreams can spread like shares?
the true world champions of immigration
we were, a distant spark of liberty
america, the netherlands writ small
*
III - new netherland
oh font of humanism, oh shining beacon
oh cradle of exemplary citizenship
who listens to us now? we have our leaders
they blare their christian values round the place
and mount the moralistic foghorn high
but in america their frightened faces
all gleam with drooling pride, it’s not prime time
but still we steal a slot in the cool white house
what kind of model country toes this line?
we bob along behind the big boss boat
impressive, don’t you think? a fifty-state fleet
with an inspiring airbed at the back
WANTED URGENTLY: foolish fools with vision
who dare to dream and make the cold sea crack
© 2009, David Colmer
400 years ago, in September 1609, a Dutch East India Company ship sailed into an unknown bay on the North American coast. Captain Henry Hudson hoped to find a shorter, northern route to the Indies. Instead he stumbled upon a territory that would be populated in the years that followed by Dutch merchants and colonists, eventually developing into the most renowned city in the world: New Amsterdam, later New York.
The 400th anniversary of Dutch-American relations was celebrated in the Choir Church in Middelburg on 2 September 2009 in the presence of Princess Margriet, the U.S. ambassador and the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen.
On the invitation of the Roosevelt Study Center, Poet Laureate Ramsey Nasr wrote three sonnets, which he recited during this ceremony. That same day the poems were published in the NRC Handelsblad.
The Hudson Sonnets
I - hudson’s shortcutour outcome was that you were in the way
we sailed to that conclusion on a dream
dreamt by a fool: our captain hudson claimed
that he could find a shortcut to the east
go straight and keep the north pole on your left
then you can slip down quickly to the indies
and we believed the guy and followed him
yes, even when he said: “or maybe west . . . ?”
henry hudson had been dismissed before
and when he swore on the shore of a foreign bay
that all we had to do to reach the orient
was set a course straight through america
we’d wisely lowered sail – already wedged
from stem to stern in this new continent
*
II - new amsterdam
the waiting bay lay like an outstretched finger
at the end of an invisible dutch arm
we went exploring, stamping round we found
our way in a deserted fertile backwater
perhaps no other body but ours, which never
managed to win one god, one people for itself
which rose from drifting, loose minorities
could lay the seed for such a babelopolis
who taught you how to use the melting pot?
who said, be equal, be diverse and free
your trade, who told you, dreams can spread like shares?
the true world champions of immigration
we were, a distant spark of liberty
america, the netherlands writ small
*
III - new netherland
oh font of humanism, oh shining beacon
oh cradle of exemplary citizenship
who listens to us now? we have our leaders
they blare their christian values round the place
and mount the moralistic foghorn high
but in america their frightened faces
all gleam with drooling pride, it’s not prime time
but still we steal a slot in the cool white house
what kind of model country toes this line?
we bob along behind the big boss boat
impressive, don’t you think? a fifty-state fleet
with an inspiring airbed at the back
WANTED URGENTLY: foolish fools with vision
who dare to dream and make the cold sea crack
© 2009, David Colmer
400 years ago, in September 1609, a Dutch East India Company ship sailed into an unknown bay on the North American coast. Captain Henry Hudson hoped to find a shorter, northern route to the Indies. Instead he stumbled upon a territory that would be populated in the years that followed by Dutch merchants and colonists, eventually developing into the most renowned city in the world: New Amsterdam, later New York.
The 400th anniversary of Dutch-American relations was celebrated in the Choir Church in Middelburg on 2 September 2009 in the presence of Princess Margriet, the U.S. ambassador and the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Verhagen.
On the invitation of the Roosevelt Study Center, Poet Laureate Ramsey Nasr wrote three sonnets, which he recited during this ceremony. That same day the poems were published in the NRC Handelsblad.
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