Here’s the Dutch poem Winterstilte (Winter Silence) by Guido Gezelle who lived from 1830 to 1899. You can listen to the poem in the mp3 recording below and follow along with the Dutch text and then read a loose English translation…
Winterstilte
(Dutch)Een witte spree
ligt overal
gespreid op ‘s werelds akker;
geen mensche en is,
men zeggen zou,
geen levend herte wakker.Het vogelvolk,
verlegen en
verlaten, in de takken
des perebooms
te piepen hangt,
daar niets en is te pakken!‘t Is even stille
en stom alhier
aldaar; en, ondertusschen,
en hoore ik maar
het kreunen meer,
en ‘t kriepen, van de musschen.Winter Silence
(English Translation)A white sprawl
lies everywhere
covering the world’s field;
There is no one,
we would say,
no living heart is awake.
The bird folk
at a loss and left behind
in the branches
of the pear tree,
squeaking, suspended,
because there’s nothing to be caught!
It’s even silent
and still here,
there, and meanwhile,
Well I hear only
more groans,
and the singing of the sparrow.Read in Dutch by Ernst Pattynama
Translation: Lisa Yannucci
This article was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Dutch, Languages, Netherlands, Poems, Poems about Winter, Poetry, Poetry about the Seasons, Poetry about the Weather. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
 - A Dutch Poem with Recording
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One Response to “Winter Silence (Winterstilte) – A Dutch Poem with Recording”
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December 29th, 2012 at 4:11 am
Beautiful words comes from heart
heart is the only treasure in human body
only heart words be imortal
the most beautiful words are alive in poetry