De Amerikaanse dichter Charles Reznikoff werd op 30 augustus 1894 in New York geboren. Zie ook alle tags voor Charles Reznikoff op dit blog.
KING DAVID (Fragment)
“And David said to Solomon, ‘My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the Lord my God: But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Thou has shed blood abun-dandy, and hast made great wars: thou shall not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.” —I Chronicles XXII: 7,8.
I
His height was six cubits and a span;
his helmet brass,
the weight of his coat-of-mail is five thousand shekels of brass,
he had greaves of brass upon his legs,
and a target of brass upon his shoulders;
the staff of his spear is like a weaver’s beam,
the weight of his spearhead is five hundred shekels of iron.
He stood before our camp and shouted,
Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul?
Choose a man to fight with me;
if he is able to kill me, we are your servants,
if not, you are ours.
And we stood there, dismayed—
even Jonathan.
Now there had come to the camp a lad from Bethlehem,
whose three eldest brothers had followed Saul to battle:
the lad brought them parched corn, and loaves and cheese for their captain.
And he asked of the soldiers, Who is this Philistine that he should
……………………..challenge the armies of the living God?
They told him how the king had said that he would enrich the man
……………………who killed the Philistine,
and give the man Michal—the king’s daughter—for a wife;
and then the soldiers jeered at him and said, Do you think to kill him?
His eldest brother pushed through the soldiers and said,
What are you doing here?
With whom have you left our few sheep in the wilderness?
I know your naughtiness: you have come to see the battle.
The lad answered them all, I will go and fight with this Philistine,
and they reasoned with him: What are you thinking of?
You are only a lad and he has been a man of war since his youth.
I will go with my staff and sling and the stones in my scrip.
Goliath called out, Am I a dog that you come against me with a stick?
Come on, and I will give your flesh to the birds of heaven and the beasts
………………………..of the field,
but as he lifted his spear,
the lad took a stone and slung it, and it sank into Goliath’s forehead.
At this we rushed upon the Philistines.
Jonathan
has given the lad his own robe, girdle, sword and bow;
now David shall stay among the men of war,
and be Michal’s husband.
De Amerikaanse schrijfster en dichteres Rita Frances Dove werd geboren op 28 augustus 1952 in Akron, Ohio. Zie ook alle tags voor Rita Dove op dit blog.
Dagorders
Na de gebulderde wekroep de koude druppelwasbeurt
en het opmaken van onze bedden; nadat de taken waren uitgedeeld
en we brood kruimelden in de zure kool, om vervolgens
te worden geteld in de rij, je nummer beduidde je lot;
was er een ogenblik – vóór het rennen naar de klas,
uitkijkposten onder de zolderkast, niet meer dan
een zweem, een helder, wreed herinneren –
dat we weer onszelf werden,
met spuuglok en vlecht, blozend van gepikte appels
of weggestopt snoep. We hurkten niet in de regen
nadat we geteld waren en rilden niet
onder dakspanten om vast te houden aan
onze dromen van de buitenwereld.
We waren nog maar kinderen. En dat
korte vergeten, die woeste bedwelming
die we stil trachtten te houden in ons hoofd
als in een boordevolle bokaal
tot de dag loodrecht aanrukte, zijn orders blafte –
was het meest zalige of schokkende moment
dat we op aarde zouden doormaken:
op deze harde, stuurse aarde
die we niet langer herkenden maar waar we
onze ziel maar al te snel aan zouden toevertrouwen
als ten slotte onze lichamen verkruimelden
hun laatste rustplaats in.
Vertaald door Jabik Veenbaas
Zie voor nog meer schrijvers van de 30e augustus ook mijn blog van 30 augustus 2023 en ook mijn blog van 30 augustus 2019 en ook mijn blog van 30 augustus 2017 en ook mijn blog van 30 augustus 2016.