Poem
Stefan Hertmans
Take and read
You can study history,Riddles, rumours and gossip,
Pages of crazy electronics,
And suddenly you’re facing
A beggar in the rain and no longer
Know what we are doing in the world.
A ghost grows warm beside you
And taps you on the shoulder.
Golden shower, Danae in foam,
The glitter of life.
You’re being hugged; the sun breaks through.
Someone deciphered a brand new
Cuneiform, kids on their Vespas go
In hot pursuit of Vestal girls.
Everything costs, and everything’s null.
Tolle, lege, St. Augustine,
Take this poem and read.
Don’t mention us
In your unbearable prayers:
It wasn’t for us
Your God suffered.
© Translation: 2016, Donald Gardner
The title refers to the famous passage in St. Augustine’s Confessions (Book VIII, XII, paragraph 29) in which he tells the tale of his conversion. A child is singing in a garden, St. Augustine thinks he hears ‘Tolle, lege’ (Take and read), opens the book on his table and reads: ‘Make not provision for the flesh in concupiscence’.
Neem en lees
Neem en lees
Je kunt geschiedenis gaan lezen,Raadsels, roddels en geruchten,
Pagina’s geschifte elektronica,
En toch plots voor een bedelaar
In regen staan en niet meer weten
Waarom we in de wereld zijn.
Een schim wordt warm naast jou
En tikt je op de schouder.
Gouden regen, Danaë in schuim,
De glitter van het leven.
Je wordt omhelsd; de zon breekt door.
Iemand ontcijferde een brandnieuw
Spijkerschrift, jongens op Vespa’s gaan
Achter Vestaalse meisjes aan.
Alles is duur en alles is om niets.
Tolle, lege, Augustinus,
Neem dit gedicht en lees.
Vergeet ons maar
In je ondraaglijke gebeden:
Jouw God heeft niet
Voor ons geleden.
© 2015, Stefan Hertmans
From: Neem en lees
Publisher: CPNB,
From: Neem en lees
Publisher: CPNB,
Poems
Poems of Stefan Hertmans
Close
Take and read
You can study history,Riddles, rumours and gossip,
Pages of crazy electronics,
And suddenly you’re facing
A beggar in the rain and no longer
Know what we are doing in the world.
A ghost grows warm beside you
And taps you on the shoulder.
Golden shower, Danae in foam,
The glitter of life.
You’re being hugged; the sun breaks through.
Someone deciphered a brand new
Cuneiform, kids on their Vespas go
In hot pursuit of Vestal girls.
Everything costs, and everything’s null.
Tolle, lege, St. Augustine,
Take this poem and read.
Don’t mention us
In your unbearable prayers:
It wasn’t for us
Your God suffered.
© 2016, Donald Gardner
From: Neem en lees
From: Neem en lees
The title refers to the famous passage in St. Augustine’s Confessions (Book VIII, XII, paragraph 29) in which he tells the tale of his conversion. A child is singing in a garden, St. Augustine thinks he hears ‘Tolle, lege’ (Take and read), opens the book on his table and reads: ‘Make not provision for the flesh in concupiscence’.
Take and read
You can study history,Riddles, rumours and gossip,
Pages of crazy electronics,
And suddenly you’re facing
A beggar in the rain and no longer
Know what we are doing in the world.
A ghost grows warm beside you
And taps you on the shoulder.
Golden shower, Danae in foam,
The glitter of life.
You’re being hugged; the sun breaks through.
Someone deciphered a brand new
Cuneiform, kids on their Vespas go
In hot pursuit of Vestal girls.
Everything costs, and everything’s null.
Tolle, lege, St. Augustine,
Take this poem and read.
Don’t mention us
In your unbearable prayers:
It wasn’t for us
Your God suffered.
© 2016, Donald Gardner
The title refers to the famous passage in St. Augustine’s Confessions (Book VIII, XII, paragraph 29) in which he tells the tale of his conversion. A child is singing in a garden, St. Augustine thinks he hears ‘Tolle, lege’ (Take and read), opens the book on his table and reads: ‘Make not provision for the flesh in concupiscence’.
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