I learned today that South African Afrikaans poet, short story writer, and critic Johann de Lange had passed away on Thursday.
I made an attempt below to translate a poem from his debut collection of poetry that appeared in 1982. It was titled ‘Akwarelle van die Dors’ (‘Watercolors of the Thirst’) and he was awarded the Ingrid Jonker prize in 1983, the first of many prizes awarded for his writing.
Aardlief
Eendag word ek wel weer joune, oerbeminde:
word my hande en my oë jòù hande en jòù oë,
gee ek die handvol geleende stof aan jou terug,
ou selfsugtig, word ek joune van kop tot tone.
– Johann de Lange, uit sy debuutbundel ‘Akwarelle van Die Dors’ (1982)
Earthly Love
One day for sure, will I become yours again, primal beloved:
my hands and my eyes becoming your hands and your eyes,
giving back the handful of borrowed dust to you,
old selfish one, becoming yours from head to toe.
– A rough translation into English