C.O. Jellema: 'Van dingen spreek ik...' (I speak of things.../Jeg taler om tingene...)

Van dingen spreek ik…

 

Van dingen spreek ik in de tweede werkelijkheid,

dat is de buigzame herinnering;

beleven is te snel zelfs voor verwondering:

een voetstap klinkt als men hem niet meer hoort.

 

 

I speak of things…

 

I speak of things in the second reality,

that which is pliant recollection;

experience is too quick even for amazement:

a footfall sounds first when no longer heard.

 

 

Om tingene taler jeg…

 

Om tingene taler jeg i den anden virkelighed,

den som er bøjelig erindring;

oplevelsen er for kort, selv for forbavselse:

et fodtrin lyder først når man ikke hører det mere.

 

 

Terminology:

One can distinguish in literature between non-fiction and fiction. Non-fiction is sometimes referred to as the first reality and is based on factual information; fiction is what the imaginative writer creates in his or her text on the basis of this reality and it is referred to as the second reality; what the reader subsequently makes of this text is then sometimes known as the third reality.