Poem
Paul van Ostaijen
BAROQUE ACCOUNT
Sometimes— when the boats of their senses' beat
against the ever-swelling cliff
of a fragrance that's sti1l open
to fantastic beasts
and plants that
shot through with fear
between the sea's blue and the blue of the sky
are a sheer metaphor —
sometimes desire flames up in people so high
that they tackle the flimsy boat
and take to sea
the wind plays a delusion in the sails
an old delusion that lies
in a slump beyond the horizon
till the wind has blown the hull to bits
and from the pieces wafts the wine of the delusion
this old delusion
None knows the SOS beyond the senses' horizon
and that at the bottoms of our souls there are antennae
that pick up only the vibrations
from beyond
Sometimes the urge will force the dream into a shape
and the body turns to dream
© Translation: 1982, James Holmes
From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected Poems
Publisher: Bridges, Amsterdam, 1982
From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected Poems
Publisher: Bridges, Amsterdam, 1982
Facture Baroque
Facture Baroque
Soms— wanneer de boten van hun zinnen sloegen
aan de immer deinende rotswand
van een reuk die openstaat
op wonderlike dieren
en planten die
koortsdoorschoten
tussen de blauwheid van de zee en de blauwheid van de lucht
slechts zijn een vergelijken —
soms slaat het verlangen der mensen zo hoog uit
dat zij takelen de nederige boot
en ter zee gaan
in de zeilen speelt de wind een waan
een oude waan
die over de kim gekelderd lag
tot de wind de hulzen stuk woei
en uit de scherven walmt de wijn van deze waan
van deze oude waan
Geen kent het S.O.S.-gesein geenzijds der zinnekim
en dat aan de boôm van onze ziel er sprieten steken
die alleen het trillen vatten
van gene zijde
Soms dringt de drang de droom tot een gestalte
en wordt het lichaam droom
© 1926, Paul van Ostaijen
From: Verzamelde gedichten
Publisher: Bert Bakker, Amsterdam
From: Verzamelde gedichten
Publisher: Bert Bakker, Amsterdam
Poems
Poems of Paul van Ostaijen
Close
BAROQUE ACCOUNT
Sometimes— when the boats of their senses' beat
against the ever-swelling cliff
of a fragrance that's sti1l open
to fantastic beasts
and plants that
shot through with fear
between the sea's blue and the blue of the sky
are a sheer metaphor —
sometimes desire flames up in people so high
that they tackle the flimsy boat
and take to sea
the wind plays a delusion in the sails
an old delusion that lies
in a slump beyond the horizon
till the wind has blown the hull to bits
and from the pieces wafts the wine of the delusion
this old delusion
None knows the SOS beyond the senses' horizon
and that at the bottoms of our souls there are antennae
that pick up only the vibrations
from beyond
Sometimes the urge will force the dream into a shape
and the body turns to dream
© 1982, James Holmes
From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected Poems
Publisher: 1982, Bridges, Amsterdam
From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected Poems
Publisher: 1982, Bridges, Amsterdam
BAROQUE ACCOUNT
Sometimes— when the boats of their senses' beat
against the ever-swelling cliff
of a fragrance that's sti1l open
to fantastic beasts
and plants that
shot through with fear
between the sea's blue and the blue of the sky
are a sheer metaphor —
sometimes desire flames up in people so high
that they tackle the flimsy boat
and take to sea
the wind plays a delusion in the sails
an old delusion that lies
in a slump beyond the horizon
till the wind has blown the hull to bits
and from the pieces wafts the wine of the delusion
this old delusion
None knows the SOS beyond the senses' horizon
and that at the bottoms of our souls there are antennae
that pick up only the vibrations
from beyond
Sometimes the urge will force the dream into a shape
and the body turns to dream
© 1982, James Holmes
From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected Poems
Publisher: 1982, Bridges, Amsterdam
From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected Poems
Publisher: 1982, Bridges, Amsterdam
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