Poem
Hédi Kaddour
THE MILL
I am the single point, the lessonIn a landscape where evening links
A stream, a church, and an old mill:
The bell tower rises, the tree stands fast,
The wheel works, and gray water
Flows away beneath the winter wind,
Letting enough pass, from dawn to dawn
To grind grain, to saw
Coffin planks, to make
Idle men dream, in this calm rumbling
Which keeps on fabricating energy
In the time that’s left for matter
When mankind has done shouting
Over the soft cloak of snow.
© Translation: 2010, Marilyn Hacker
From: Treason
Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2010
From: Treason
Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2010
DE MOLEN
Ik ben het enige punt, de lesVan een landschap waar ’s avonds
Beek, kerk en oude molen samenkomen:
De toren rijst, de boom staat,
Het rad zwoegt, en het grijze water
Verdwijnt in de winterwind,
Van dag tot dag genoeg doorlatend
Om graan te malen, planken
Voor doodkisten te zagen en de lanterfanter
Te doen dromen, in dat kalme draaien
Dat energie blijft produceren
Met de tijd die de materie rest
Wanneer de mensen uitgeschreeuwd zijn
Op de zachte mantel van de sneeuw.
© Vertaling: 2012, Martin de Haan
LE MOULIN
Je suis le point unique, la leçonD’un paysage où se joignent, le soir,
Rivière, église et vieux moulin :
Le clocher monte, l’arbre tient,
La roue travaille, et l’eau grise
S’en va sous le vent d’hiver,
Laissant passer, entre chaque aube,
De quoi moudre le grain, scier
Les planches des cercueils, et faire
Rêver l’oisif, dans ce roulement calme
Qui continue à fabriquer de l’énergie
Avec le temps qui reste à la matière
Quand les hommes ont fini de crier
Sur le manteau doux de la neige.
© 2010, Hédi Kaddour
From: Passage au Luxembourg
Publisher: Gallimard, Paris
From: Passage au Luxembourg
Publisher: Gallimard, Paris
Poems
Poems of Hédi Kaddour
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THE MILL
I am the single point, the lessonIn a landscape where evening links
A stream, a church, and an old mill:
The bell tower rises, the tree stands fast,
The wheel works, and gray water
Flows away beneath the winter wind,
Letting enough pass, from dawn to dawn
To grind grain, to saw
Coffin planks, to make
Idle men dream, in this calm rumbling
Which keeps on fabricating energy
In the time that’s left for matter
When mankind has done shouting
Over the soft cloak of snow.
© 2010, Marilyn Hacker
From: Treason
Publisher: 2010, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
From: Treason
Publisher: 2010, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
THE MILL
I am the single point, the lessonIn a landscape where evening links
A stream, a church, and an old mill:
The bell tower rises, the tree stands fast,
The wheel works, and gray water
Flows away beneath the winter wind,
Letting enough pass, from dawn to dawn
To grind grain, to saw
Coffin planks, to make
Idle men dream, in this calm rumbling
Which keeps on fabricating energy
In the time that’s left for matter
When mankind has done shouting
Over the soft cloak of snow.
© 2010, Marilyn Hacker
From: Treason
Publisher: 2010, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
From: Treason
Publisher: 2010, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
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