Everything/Anything and…Chess…"Despite the documented evidence by chess historian HJR Murray, I've always thought that chess was invented by a goddess"–George Koltanowski: from the foreword to:"Women in chess, players of the Modern Age"
A striking song by Laurika. How many places and people can we add for a second song?
London Paris Rome Berlin Barcelona Washington Moscow Beijing Tokyo Jerusalem Jericho Waco Waco Bethlehem Srebrenica Sebokeng Sarajevo O Saigon Hiroshima Rubicon CHORUS: I can see a fiery, fiery glow Even as the sun is sinking low I can see a horseman on the run Oh my daughter, oh my son
Dunkirk Dover Normandy Frankfurt New York Lockerbie Amajuba Bellevue Chappaquiddick Waterloo
Bucharest St Petersburg Heilbron Hobhouse Gettysburg Belfast Budapest Baghdad Berchtesgaden Stalingrad
CHORUS
Carthage Dresden Babylon Sharpeville My Lai Boipatong Delville Wood El Alamein St Helena Mitchell’s Plain
Balaklava Austerlitz Belsen Buchenwald Auschwitz Nagasaki o Versailles Armageddon Thermopylae
CHORUS
REPEAT CHORUS: There’s another song that will be sung There’s another bell that must be rung There’s another city I’ve been told Where the streets are paved with gold
There’s another city I’ve been told Where the streets are paved with gold
Have you read The Hot Gates? The author of ‘Lord of the Flies‘ – which I had as a prescribed book at the age of 14 and found the story very upsetting at the time.
English readers: Lisa on the Keys – the English version
Hierdie foto is aangestuur na my email, geen aanduiding wie dit geneem het nie. Dus, indien enige persoon weet wie die fotograaf was, plaas ek graag die krediet. Selfs op Google-images was my soektog vrugteloos na 16 bladsye. Nou wonder ek oor die liedjie!! Ek sal graag wil weet waar die liedjie se titel oorspronklik vandaan kom. Baie graag sal ek ook wil weet waar hierdie plekkie is!
Lisa se Klavier
Ek het ‘n vriendin
Ver by die blou see
Teen die hang van Tafelberg as die son sak
Speel sy die mooiste melodieë
Haar vingers ken die pad
Opgesluit in wit en swart
Die klavier se grootste vreugde, hartseer en verlange
Verstaan die hart se diepste smart
Ja, die hele wêreld word stil
En luister in die donker uur
Na die naggeluide
Van Lisa se Klavier
Ja, die hele wêreld word stil
En luister in die donker uur
Na die naggeluide
Van Lisa se Klavier
Lisa kan nie ophou
As sy eers begin het nie
En sy laat my nooit huis toe loop of afskeid neem
Voor my laaste sigaret nie
Ek staan op haar balkon
En drink haar appelkoostee
Kyk uit na Kaapstad in die nag
Die liggies en die swart, swart see
Koor
En onder op die sypaadjie
Sien ek die bergie en sy maat
Wat staan en opkyk ver na bo
Vanuit die vullis van Oranjestraat
Hulle ken al lank die klanke
Wat uit haar woonstel stroom
Lank na twaalf, met die deure oop, al moan die bure ookal hoe
Word Lisa elke boemelaar se droom
The Dancer: Image: noise.net/featured-work.asp?artist_id=8618&category_id=4
This entry is quite an odd entry. I have a few snippets of music files which I truly enjoy and they are some of the about 2GB music files on my MP3-player. The first file is the Elizabeth Serenade, then you can listen to “The mouth organ boy” – by Vicky Leandros. The 3rd song is by Laurika Rauch..”The song of the trains” and then you can enjoy Jackson Browne’s “For a dancer”- a bit down in this entry!
I also have a poem! “The Night Mail”. I had to teach this poem to Y4’s a few years ago and when I searched for the poem, I found it on a website which was about the Night Mail…Royal Mail! It was such interesting reading – the history of the night mail, but what was sad, was the fact that the services of the Night Mail train were terminated. The same time it was about to be terminated, I came across the site and the poem. There was an abundance of info on that site, but it seems to me that the site, where I found the poem, doesn’t exist anymore! What a shame! I could find you a newspaper article about this train- at least! The poem by Auden is about this train! The Royal Night Mail was about the train from London to Scotland/Wales…see the youtube movie-links at the bottom of this post… and there are even more movies on youtube to be seen! Do enjoy it! Enjoy the music here too! Wherever you go this week, make sure you “make a joyful sound”! – see the lyrics of “For a Dancer”.
Night Train (Commentary for a G.P.O. Film, July 1935)
by W.H. Auden (1907 – 1973)
This is the Night Mail crossing the border,Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.
Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,
Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.
Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.
Dawn freshens. Her climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs
Men long for news.
Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or visit relations,
And applications for situations
And timid lovers’ declarations
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled in the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
Notes from overseas to Hebrides
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,
The cold and official and the heart’s outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.
Thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
Or of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston’s or Crawford’s:
Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
And shall wake soon and long for letters,
And none will hear the postman’s knock
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
It was one of the world’s great railway journeys, but you could not book a seat on it. It inspired two of Britain’s greatest 20th-century poets, and Britain’s most infamous bunch of 20th-century villains. It rushed through the darkness, utterly reliable, while the rest of us slept. But last night it ran for the last time.
Please clickHERE to read more about the last Night Mail train from London. The link will open in a new window.
Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I dont remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you’d always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you’re nowhere to be found
I dont know what happens when people die
Can’t seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It’s like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can’t sing
I can’t help listening
And I can’t help feeling stupid standing round
Crying as they ease you down
cause I know that youd rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(theres nothing you can do about it anyway)
Just do the steps that youve been shown
By everyone you’ve ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Anothers steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you’ll do alone
Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don’t let the uncertainty turn you around
(the world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound
Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you’ll never know.
Blou…My tema vir hierdie week. Ek het besluit ek gaan ‘n kleur kies vir die volgende paar weke, totdat ek “uit” kleur raak…sal dit ooit gebeur..ek glo nie ek wil swart-en-wit wees nie!
Blue is my theme for this week and I’m going to take a colour per week…hopefully I won’t run out of colours.This image was created by using “mosaic maker” …- link at the bottom of this post! – which is really great fun to do! You can click on the image to see a larger view and then even zoom into it too. The nature images are from South Africa, but not the dolphin image. The image next to the Jonathan Livingston Seagull book-cover, is a Kadinsky image. These images are all on my PC which I’ve found through some Google-searches, apart from the 3rd pic left, those beautiful flowers are from my garden! and those two cats are actually “playing” chess! If you click on the image, you will see a little bear with a hug-box…have a hug for today from that box! It’s free!
The music is an Afrikaans song..”Blou”…which means “Blue” in English. I’ve got also for you Neil Diamond’s song…”Song sung blue” and a song by Vicky Leandros…. “My world is blue”. Laurika Rauch is one of my favourite South African artists. I’ve blogged about her a couple of times before and you will hear her singing “Blou”.
On the second image you can see some of the “technology” on my pc, which I use to convert files and the most recent program I’ve started to use, is the Audacity. My Blogger-friend – from “My-kop-op-‘n-blok” has told me about this smart little program. I don’t know the program as yet, but at least know how to split an audio file like this one of Laurika, to give you only a taste of it. Today, I copied the “taster” to the bottom bar and replay the track and suddenly, co-incidently, I’ve created an echo! Take a listen at the first track and then the original second. Afterwards, when playing around on the menus of the program, I discovered the “echo”-function…but I’ve thought it was cool that I’ve created it myself. I haven’t tried the “echo”-funtion…will do that a next time. I’ve also found out how to use the “fade out”-function, so now it doesn’t sound like the music stops suddenly without a warning… If you have a Blogger-site, I’ve also “discovered” how to upload music on the Blogger-site, If you need any help, give me a shout!
Blou….by Laurika Rauch
And…this is Neil Diamond’s song…”Song sung blue”
And the last song is sung by Vicky Leandros, a Greek singer…”My world is blue”
Jan left me cold and April cried
June came when I finished with May
through the signs and the seasons
with her rhymes and her reasons
Julie blew the clouds away
a perfect shadow in a sunshine day.
A month of summerday nights she stayed
blue skies all day each day clear
till the sun in her eyes began to fade
with every daisy chain she made
and she kissed me goodbye like a razor blade
singing I’ll return next year
But tomorrow’s a world away.
Blou – Laurika Rauch
As die skemer kom
en hy vang my by jou
en hy stuur jou terug na jou huis toe
wie sou verstaan
hoe ek sou voel
wie sou verstaan
oral om, om my heen
is dit blou
want ek wil by jou wees
ek wil by jou wees
vanaand
tyd en plek
bepaal wat gebeur
niemand kan dit keer nie
sê my wat’s reg
en wat is verkeerd
wie sou bepaal?
Oral om, om my heen
is dit blou
want ek wil by jou wees
ek wil by jou wees
vanaand
koor:
alles is blou
alles is blou
blou is die wolke
blou is die maan
blou is die venster waarby ek staan
blou is my hart en
blou my gedagtes
blou om my heen
alles is blou
alles is blou
alles is blou
alles oor jou
as die skemer kom
en hy vang my by jou
en hy stuur jou terug na jou huis toe
wie sou verstaan hoe ek sou voel
wie sou verstaan
oral om, om my heen
is dit blou
want ek wil by jou wees
ek wil by jou wees
vanaand
Thanks Braam for reminding me that I am a Blue Bull supporter!! How could I fotget about the bulls!!! hehehe
English readers: you can find my translation of this first poem on “My Poems-gedigte” page on top of my blog. I hope you will enjoy it.
EENSAAMHEID – JAN F.E. CELLIERS
My vuurtjie en ek is op wag –
my vuurtjie en ek alleen;
die awend-ster
wink al van ver,
en die velde slaap omheen.
En stadigies sterwe die dag,
soos een in sy armoed verlaat,
ongesien, ongeag,
sonder suggie of lag,
waar niemand van weet of van praat.
Nou bly die lug alom
in stil aanbidding staan –
geen tampende bel
wat die ure tel:
net die sterre wat kom en gaan.
Die osse, met koppe gebuie,
herkoue nog stil in die nag,
tot één vir één buk
en gaan lê by sy juk,
met `n sug, ná die trek van die dag.
My vuurtjie is al wat nog leef
in die eindeloos ruim met my,
en sy stemmetjie dwaal
soos `n deuntjie wat draal
om dae lank verby,
om jonkheids blye môre
en laggies lank verlewe.
Dan voel ek `n traan
in my oë staan
en ek fluister: “Heer, vergewe!”
Die slapende velde lê wyd,
en wyer die donker see,
wat my vuurtjie en my
vanawend skei
van die wêreld se vreug en wee;
ek weet daar`s fees vanaand
in menig verligte saal,
maar geeneen wat my mis
by die dans en die dis –
`n balling vergeet en verdwaal.
Maar al is ek, ver van die skaar,
in eensaamheids wonings getrede,
ek voel my soos een
met die Heer alleen –
`n kind aan Sy boesem tevrede.
image: digitalcameraclub.co.za
I’ve read something this morning on Zee’s blog that reminded me about this poem : “Eensaamheid” by Jan F E Celliers I also came accross this poem on a website and it also reminded me about this very same poem! “Eensaamheid” means…”loneliness…or…solitude…”
Ver op hoë berge
Pagina: 431/431
Ver op hoë berge, o-o-o…
Sit ek eensaam in die nag,
by my vuurtjie stil op wag,
ver op hoë berge.
‘k Denk nou kom my liefste, o-o-o…
k’ Sie van verre kom die wa,
die my liefste skat daar dra,
ver op hoë berge.
Read on WIKIPEDIAmore about him.
Kliek HIER vir meer gedigte deur Celliers… Enjoy the music of Sweet People …terwyl jy “Eensaamheid” lees
On THIS LINK –on my blog- you can read two poems of Jan FE Celliers.
Afrikaanse kindergedig!
Digter? Wie kan help? Titel? Daar stap ‘n klein mannetjie
In die rigting van die klotsende waterstroompie
Hy het ‘n emmer in sy handjie
En jy hoor net:die suisende windjie!
Hy stap, voete slepend
Hy stap, tande knersend
Hy draf, voete knarsend
Hy draf, hande swaaiend
Oppad hoor hy ‘n kwetterende voëltjie
Hy val skielik: kaplaks!
Daar lê hy onderstebo op die bruggie
“Ai”, sê hy, “dis seer”, vervlaks!
Nou loop ons klein ou mannetjie
Baie stadig, hy sien hy ‘n bobbejaan
Wat al blaffend en al strompelend
KADOEF! en PARDOEF!
Teen ‘n boomstomp kom gejaa’n
Die kabbellende rivierstroompie
Stroom al jubelend oor die klippies
Daarnaas is ‘n verdwaalde lam
Hy blêr! Ai tog! Dis ‘n ram!
Oppad terug stap die mannetjie
Met sy kleine, swaaiende kannetjie
Geluidloos deur die woud heen en weer
Wat het geword van die brullende
En krakende donderweer?
Ek weet! Die sissende slange
En kwakende padda
Het almal op skrik gejaag
KABOEM! Daar blits hy
SJADOEF! Daar flits hy
This song is one of my favourites, sung by Laurika Rauch, also one of my favourite South African artists. Laurika is a legend in South Africa and many South Africans love her for her music…and I’m definitely one of them. If you click on the page-link that says…”don’t miss this song”, you can listen to her singing another song together with Valiant Swart…and I’ve translated that song for you to understand the song that’s about a sun catcher… This song is about her as a young girl, where she says she used to believe in Santa ….she saw Santa walking through the corn fields one day and her brother asked if Santa was from Clocolan….then one day she saw Santa’s suit…and she realised that he wasn’t real…all her dreams were scattered… she also sings about girls having dreams about their future partners and she wrote a letter to Santa …describing him her dream partner…
WOW! This image is from THIS SITE where you can see more fantastic breathtaking images! This is the road to Clocolan…the small town Laurika mentions in her song…in her song her little brother asks her if Santa was from Clocolan…
EK HET IN MY KINDERJARE VAS GEGLO IN KERSFEESVADER
IN WERKLIKHEID RY HY MOS MET ‘N SLEE
MAAR HIER STAP HY DEUR DIE MIELIES, MET ‘N STREEPSAK
EN ‘N KIERIE
EN MY BOETIE VRA, “BOER HY BY CLOCOLAN?”
KOOR:
WAAR IS JOU RENDIER EN SILWER SPORE?
WAAR IS ONS DROME VAN GISTERAAND?
VLIEG OOR DIE BOME MET MY DROME
KYK HOE GLINSTER DIE MAAN
DIE WINDE VAN DIE WINTER HET MY KINDERHART ONTNUGTER
EK EN BOETIE KRY ‘N ROOI JAS IN DIE LAAI
JONK VAN JARE, OUD VAN DAE, HUIL EK HARTSEER
IN MY KAMER
WANT DIE FANTASIE HET SOOS ‘N DROOM VERDWYN
KOOR
IN ‘N BRIEF VAN LATER JARE, SKRYF EK “LIEWE KERSFEESVADER
ELKE MEISIE HET ‘N SPESIALE WENS
VIR ‘N MAN SO SOET SOOS SUIKER, MET ‘N MOTOR SONDER DUIKE
EN SOEN HY JOU DINK JY DIS NET ‘N DROOM”
KOOR
EK STAP TOE OP ‘N AAND LAAT, MET ‘N KÊREL UIT DIE VRYSTAAT
AL BESTUUR HY ‘N OU BAKKIE, SÊ EK “KERSFEESVADER, DANKIE!”
WANT AL SY SOENE IS SOOS SUIKER, EN IN SY HANDE ‘N DIAMANT
VLIEG OOR DIE BOME MET MY DROME
KYK HOE GLINSTER DIE MAAN
HIER’S ONS KINDERS OM DIE BOOMPIE, HULLE WAG NOU VIR DIE OOMPIE
MY DOGTERTJIE IS NET ‘N BIETJIE BANG
MAAR HY STAP SOMMER UIT DIE BRANDERS, JA DIE TYE HET VERANDER
MY SEUNTJIE VRA, “WOON HY IN JEFFRIESBAAI?”
KOOR Read what Wipneus says in her post about “dreams” HERE , but it’s an entry in Afrikaans. The link will open in a new window.
Image:Childrenshospital.org
On THIS LINK you can read about dreams….The link will open in a new window.
From the book “Dreams”…by Olive Schreiner…
And God laughed at me; and I wondered why he laughed.
God said, “Come, and I will show you Heaven.”
…
And partly I awoke. It was still and dark; the sound of the carriages had
died in the street; the woman who laughed was gone; and the policeman’s
tread was heard no more. In the dark it seemed as if a great hand lay upon
my heart, and crushed it. I tried to breathe and tossed from side to side;
and then again I fell asleep, and dreamed.
God took me to the edge of that world. It ended. I looked down. The
gulf, it seemed to me, was fathomless, and then I saw two bridges crossing
it that both sloped upwards.
I said to God, “Is there no other way by which men cross it?”
God said, “One; it rises far from here and slopes straight upwards.
I asked God what the bridges’ names were.
God said, “What matter for the names? Call them the Good, the True, the
Beautiful, if you will–you will yet not understand them.” Please click HEREto read the entire book …”Dreams” online written by a South African writer…Olive Schreiner….the link will open in a new window….and on THIS LINK you can read more about her…the link will open in a new window.
The Story of an African Farm as Ralph Iron, 1883
Dreams, 1890
Dream Life and Real Life, 1893
The Political Situation (with S C Cronwright-Schreiner), 1896
Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland, 1897
An English South African’s View of the Situation, 1899
Women and Labour, 1911
Stories, Dreams and Allegories, 1923
From Man To Man, 1926
Undine, 1928
Olive Schreiner rose to international fame as the first major South African writer of fiction, as an eloquent advocate of feminism, socialism, pacifism and free thought, as a trenchant critic of British imperialism and racism. Perhaps best known for her novel ‘The Story of an African Farm’, Schreiner wrote political and social treatises as well as allegories and short stories.
She was born into a poor family of a Boer father and English mother, the ninth of 12 children. She lived a life of incredible hardship: her father was a missionary of implacable religious zeal and her mother aggressively attempted to maintain a European sensibility as the family nomadically wandered from mission to mission throughout the Transvaal. Schreiner was self-educated; her early influences included the philosophers Herbert Spencer and John Stuart Mill, and the naturalist Charles Darwin.”..read on the link I’ve given about her…more…
On THIS LINK you can visit the site of the movie based on her book…”The Story of an African farm”…
The link will open in a new window.
by Gustavus Hindman Miller.
Fireside; 1st Fireside Ed edition, 1985 | 592 pages | PDF | 1.4MB Click on the link to download the dictionary of dreams…the link will open in a new window. the_dictionary_of_dreams_10_000_dreams_interpreted
What do you believe about dreams….read this interesting article if you want to dream like an Egyptian! I’ve got a Dutch dream book…more like a dictionary, but quite old…unfortunately packed away in SA…would love to have it so I could blog it..it was always interesting to read what they say if you dream about something, what it means… it has happened to me twice that I dream about people and funerals..then it was when there was really going to be a funeral in the family! The first time it happened was when I was a student…and a couple of days later, my beloved grandma died! After the second time, I really believe that there is some meaning we can attach to dreams!
Image: eso-garden.com
DREAMING LIKE AN EGYPTIAN
by Robert Moss
The ancient Egyptians understood that in dreams, our eyes are opened. Their word for dream, rswt, is etymologically connected to the root meaning “to be awake”. It was written with a symbol representing an open eye.
The Egyptians believed that the gods speak to us in dreams. As the Bible story of Joseph and Pharaoh reminds us, they paid close attention to dream messages about the possible future. They practiced dream incubation for guidance and healing at temples and sacred sites. They understood that by recalling and working with dreams, we develop the art of memory, tapping into knowledge that belonged to us before we entered this life journey, and awakening to our connection with other life experiences.
The Egyptians also developed an advanced practice of conscious dream travel.
Trained dreamers operated as seers, remote viewers and telepaths, advising on affairs of state and military strategy and providing a mental communications network between far-flung temples and administrative centers.
They practiced shapeshifting, crossing time and space in the dreambodies of birds and animals.
Through conscious dream travel, ancient Egypt’s “frequent flyers” explored the roads of the afterlife and the multidimensional universe. It was understood that true initiation and transformation takes place in a deeper reality accessible through the dream journey beyond the body.
Please click on THIS LINK to read the entire article. The link will open in a new window.
DO BABIES DREAM?
Babies dream, says Dr. Charles P. Pollak, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital in the New York Times.
In what seems like a rather gutless attempt to explain why he thinks babies dream, Dr. Pollack says, babies sleep because babies experience REM sleep (I have experienced REM sleep, too, any time you put in one of their last five albums). Because infants have REM sleep, Dr. Pollack says, “It is a well-based inference that babies are dreaming in REM sleep.”
Click HERE to read about babies’ dreams…The link will open in a new window.
This is the most beautiful song by Laurika Rauch and Valiant Swart. They sing about the sun….”Suncatcher” – ….Laurika Rauch is really one of our best artists in South Africa… she’s a beloved singer, well, I do love her music and I think most other South Africans too as you will notice the reaction of the audience when she appears on stage to sing with Valiant. She’s really done her bit for Afrikaans and she’s a big legend in SA. This song is in Afrikaans and I’ve tried my best to translate this “Sonvanger” (Suncatcher) in English, please listen to the music while following the words as this is a special song! You can also follow the words as I’ve translated her song in English. Enjoy!
Please click HEREto listen to her singing an English song, called… “The old folk”…beautiful!
SONVANGER
Valiant Swart
KYK OF JY VIR MY DIE SON KAN VANG
DAAR’S ‘N KAMER IN DIE HUIS WAAR ONS DIE SON KAN HANG
DIS DONKER BY DIE VENSTER IN DIE MIDDEL VAN DIE DAG
ONTHOU JY HOE HELDER DIE KAMER KON LAG
KYK OF JY VIR MY DIE SON KAN BRING
DAAR’S ‘N LIEDJIE IN DIE GANGE WAT DIE SON KAN SING
WANT DIS STIL IN DIE HOEKE, HIERDIE KOUE SEISOEN
KAN JY SIEN WAT DIE WIND EN DIE REËN AAN MY DOEN
REFREIN:
S-O-NVANGER
EK VRA JOU MOOI, LAAT HOM WEER VIR MY KOM SKYN
S-O-NVANGER
LAAT MY VERSTAAN
HOE ‘N SOMER SOMMERSO IN DIE NIET KAN VERDWYN
EN LAAT HOM SKYN
KYK OF JY VIR MY DIE SON KAN KRY
DAAR’S ‘N HUISIE IN MY HART WAAR DIE SON KAN BLY
KYK OF JY VIR MY DIE SON KAN STEEL
DAAR’S ‘N PLEKKIE IN DIE TUIN WAAR DIE SON KAN SPEEL
REFREIN
BRING ‘N BIETJIE LIG VIR DIE DRAAIE OP MY PAD
EN ‘N HANDJIEVOL STRALE VIR DIE DONKER IN MY HART
S-O-NVANGER
Suncatcher
See if you could catch me the sun
There’s a room in the house where it can be hung
It’s dark by the window in the middle of the day
Do you remember how brightly the room could laugh?
See if you could bring me the sun
There’s a song in the corridors the sun can sing
Coz it’s quiet in the corners, this cold season
Can you see what the wind and rain do to me?
Choir:
S-u-ncatcher!
I ask you, please, let it shine for me again
S-u-ncatcher!
Let me understand
How a summer disappear like that in the nothingness
And let it shine
See if you could get me the sun
There’s a home in my heart where the sun can live
See if you could steal me the sun
There’s a place in the garden where the sun can play
Choir:
S-u-ncatcher!
I ask you please, let it shine for me again
S-u-ncatcher!
Let me understand
How a summer could disappear like that in the nothingness
And let it shine
Bring some light for the meanders on my road
And a handful of rays for the darkness in my heart
~~~Nikita
This next song is sung by Helmut Lotti, a Belgium artist….singing Afrikaans….a very old folk song called “Sarie Marias”. Steve Hofmeyr…..from the TV-series (couple of years ago)….”Agter elke man..” ….(“Behind every man…”)
7 December-poem
This poem comes from a “poetic calendar”. There’s a poem for every day and it’s actually a book used by Teachers and I want to share a poem for today from this book! Fridays always feel to me like a special day for poetry! A day to relax! So…relax and enjoy! As student, Ingrid Jonker’s poems really appealed to me…and “Bitterbessie Dagbreek” was always somewhere on a door/wall in my room. At the bottom of this post, you will find a link to read more about her….her poems were translated in many languages! Follow this linkHERE to listen to her poem in Afrikaans, and at the same time, you can read it in English! Please Click on the play button! Love-light
A taper lit in sunlight,
Pale yellow leaf of flame,
An upturned heart that trembled
As soft winds breathed your name,
Its brightness was diluted;
But, when the darkness came,
It shone with such pure brilliance
As put the stars to shame. Vernon Scannell
From:Read Me2: A Poem For Every Day of The Year
BITTERBESSIE DAGBREEK
Ingrid Jonker
Bitterbessie dagbreek
bitterbessie son
‘n spieël het gebreek
tusen my en hom
Soek ek na die grootpad
om daarlangs te draf
oral draai die paadjies
van sy woorde af
Dennebos herinnering
dennebos vergeet
het ek ook verdwaal
trap ek in my leed
Papegaai-bont eggo
kierang kierang my
totdat ek bedroë
weer die koggel kry
Eggo is geen antwoord
antwoord hy alom
bitterbessie dagbreek
bitterbessie son
On THIS LINK you will find interesting reading about her life!ReadHERE more about INGRID JONKER. SONG
Another Afrikaans poem of Ingrid… Madeliefies in Namakwaland
~~~Ingrid Jonker
Waarom luister ons nog
na die antwoorde van die madeliefies
op die wind op die son
wat het geword van die kokkewietjies
Agter die geslote voorkop
waar miskien nog ’n takkie tuimel
van ’n verdrinkte lente
~~~
Agter my gesneuwelde woord
Agter ons verdeelde huis
Agter die hart gesluit teen homself
Agter draadheinings, kampe, lokasies
Agter die stilte waar onbekende tale
val soos klokke by ’n begrafenis
Agter ons verskleurde land
~~~
sit die groen hotnotsgot van die veld
en ons hoor nog verdwaasd
klein blou Namakwaland-madeliefie
iets antwoord, iets glo, iets weet.
I had to blog this Afrikaans song of Laurika Rauch as I think the mood suits today’s poems!
Pretoria is the Capital of South Africa. One of 3 capitals actually! Cape Town and Bloemfontein are the other 2 Capitals of South Africa. Pretoria is the Admin Capital. The President’s Office is settled in the Union Buildings in Pretoria and for 6 months he spends his time in his office while the other 6 months, he’s in Cape Town in the Parliament! The Parliament is settled in Cape Town. Read more HEREon Wikipedia about Pretoria.
On THIS LINK on my blog, you can read more and see more pictures about Pretoria.
IT IS OCTOBER! and I can imagine….Pretoria…what you look like! Purple Jacarandas everywhere! You can’t hide yourself! This is the time when students are busy preparing for end-of-year exams…and…when they fall in love! I can remember how the men would come and visit with a bit of a Jacaranda branch! And..how you would go for a walk, bare feet…just to step on those blossoms and get your feet purple!
En jy dan ook saamstem met Louis Leipoldt se gedig…. hier..:OKTOBER MAAND! …
Thunder…in the city!
South Africa’s Reserve Bank in Pretoria, the Capital City
Pretoria: Union Buildings
Pretoria: The Voortrekker Monument – build in 1938 – The Great Trek was in 1838.
Spoken by great men:"Give me 20 divisions of American soldiers and I will breach Europe. Give me 15 consisting of Englishmen and I will advance to the borders of Berlin. Give me two divisions of those marvellous fighting Boers and I will remove Germany from the face of the earth." - Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery, Commander of the Allied Forces during WW2.
"The Americans fight for a free world, the English mostly for honour, glory and medals, the French and Canadians decide too late that they have to participate. The Italians are too scared to fight, the Russians have no choice. The Germans for their Fatherland. The Boers? Those sons of Bitches fight for the hell of it." American General, George 'Guts and Glory' Patton.
Chessalee 