Poem
Elly de Waard
montpellier
The shimmering city;down in the shade of trees
rustling the sycamore leaves
are set in motion by a
sudden cooling gust of wind -
then once again are still
and around my ankles
some have settled.
Expansive, this, so balmy
and so unlike the timid
settlement, where I
was shut up in my thoughts
because of the closeness
and definability
of every sound; but here
in the open space
of a city with distant
and uninterrupted traffic
that mutes itself in its own flow
and equalizes
all other sounds, I can let my thoughts
go like a herd
and let them graze
on the scale, the breath
of what is urban, while I myself
scattered, guarding them, sit
on the esplanade
absorbed in this peaceful size
my feet, planted as they are
in the leaf of the sycamore tree.
montpellier
montpellier
De zinderende stad;onder de bomenschaduw
ritselend het plataneblad
dat door de plotselinge
koele wind is opgeschrikt -
dan zijn zij stil opnieuw
en rond mijn enkels hebben
enkele zich neergeschikt.
Het is zo weids, zo luw
zo ongelijk aan het schuw
gehucht, waar ik in mijn
gedachten opgesloten zat
door het nabije
en definieerbare
van elk gerucht; maar hier
in de vrije ruimte
van een stad met ver en
onophoudelijk verkeer
dat in zijn eigen stroom zich dempt
en al het andere geluid
egaliseert, kan ik mijn denken
als een kudde laten
gaan en laten weiden
op de draagwijdte, de adem
van het steedse, terwijl ik zelf
verstrooid ze hoedend aan
de esplanade zit
opgaande in dit kalme grote
mijn voeten staande toch
in blad van de plataan.
From: Anderling
Publisher: De Harmonie,
Publisher: De Harmonie,
Poems
Poems of Elly de Waard
Close
montpellier
The shimmering city;down in the shade of trees
rustling the sycamore leaves
are set in motion by a
sudden cooling gust of wind -
then once again are still
and around my ankles
some have settled.
Expansive, this, so balmy
and so unlike the timid
settlement, where I
was shut up in my thoughts
because of the closeness
and definability
of every sound; but here
in the open space
of a city with distant
and uninterrupted traffic
that mutes itself in its own flow
and equalizes
all other sounds, I can let my thoughts
go like a herd
and let them graze
on the scale, the breath
of what is urban, while I myself
scattered, guarding them, sit
on the esplanade
absorbed in this peaceful size
my feet, planted as they are
in the leaf of the sycamore tree.
From: Anderling
montpellier
The shimmering city;down in the shade of trees
rustling the sycamore leaves
are set in motion by a
sudden cooling gust of wind -
then once again are still
and around my ankles
some have settled.
Expansive, this, so balmy
and so unlike the timid
settlement, where I
was shut up in my thoughts
because of the closeness
and definability
of every sound; but here
in the open space
of a city with distant
and uninterrupted traffic
that mutes itself in its own flow
and equalizes
all other sounds, I can let my thoughts
go like a herd
and let them graze
on the scale, the breath
of what is urban, while I myself
scattered, guarding them, sit
on the esplanade
absorbed in this peaceful size
my feet, planted as they are
in the leaf of the sycamore tree.
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