Cristina Branco sings ‘Os Solitários’ / The lonely

Poem by J.J. Slauerhoff [1898 -1936]

Original Dutch title ''De eenzamen IV''

From the collection ''Al dwalend'' [voorheen ongebundelde gedichten 1947]

Portuguese translation 

Mila Vidal Paletti

English translation 

Hans van den Bos

My aunts by Manuel Kneepkens

My aunts My aunts the Goddesses, gigantic pumpkins thus descended, well scrubbed, from the Olympus into Troy's mahogany drawing rooms Under slapstick hats they demolished cream cake after cream cake In summer they resided uninterrupted on picnic plaids chequered red & white The chocolate éclairs of black trousered bottoms bruised buttercup & daisy. The harpsichord of skylarks was soon drowned out. Each produced a voice of solid Limburg oak or smacked their lips! Well, there I sat. In every corner a cow-eyed goddess ('Who wants the apple?) skirts pulled up, thighs improperly bared Ah well, decayed are all those downy pouting lips all those proud pounds of peach flesh Withered are the red cheeks of that juicy dispute About: Liqueur-pink gossip Iliad & Odyssey!

Manuel Kneepkens [1942]

Original title: Mijn tantes - From the collection: Tuin van eetlust - Uitgeverij De Bezige Bij, Amsterdam - 1st druk 1976.

Saudade/Nostalgia by J.J. Slauerhoff

Saudade/Nostalgia I have so many memories, As leaves rustling on the trees, As reeds murmering near streams, As birds singing into the azure, As song, murmering and rustling: So many and more amorphous than dreams.	J.J. Slauerhoff [1898-1938]
Original title: Saudade From: Verzamelde gedichten, Uitgeverij Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 's Gravenhage-Rotterdam - 1961 - 10e druk - blz. 671

Desolate by J.J. Slauerhoff

Desolate Desolate and grey the sea surges, Yet other ships are sailing there; Desolate and yellow the moon errs Through the so much larger sky. There is no harbour where she is bound, No roadstead in the Milky Way; The earth views her with disdain, And for the stars she does not count.	J.J. Slauerhoff [1898-1936]
Original title: Eenzaam en grauw golft de zee From: Verzamelde gedichten, Uitgeverij Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 's Gravenhage-Rotterdam - 1961 - 10e druk - blz. 723

Orpheus on the Breton coast by Job Degenaar

Orpheus on the Breton coast On an idle afternoon, when my lyre was hanging on the willows, I ripped off tens of mussels, threw them alive in boiling local wine, destroyed a lobster with a tongs and speared snails out of their bunkers heroically my hands soaked afterwards in lemon juice That night I rowed on the sea and came into a gully that took me to the Styx Hades, with a soft heart, gave me another chance to fetch Eurydice - If only I had looked round - she was already almost above ground - at the nymph that passed me the first rays of the sun just caught Poseidon's sardonic look of triumph.

Job Degenaar [1952] photo Internet

Original title: Orpheus aan de Bretonse kust From: De tweede ronde - Zeenummer - Tijdschrift voor literatuur - Winter 1988, Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, Amsterdam

Knowledge of nature by Jan Eijkelboom

Knowledge of nature From the procession car we had a view now and then of forsythias, vividly set off against the dull misery of too well-kept houses. Near the aula we wondered what sort of tree stood there on the lawn with paper-white blossoms. We took it as read that it was a kind of prunus. After the music of Bach and coffee with cake we returned to the home of the deceased. Behind it the grass was covered with forget-me-nots, or so we thought. A former teacher was able to tell us however that it was periwinkle. Out of cut glass we drank the whisky to which the deceased, once a lighthearted taster, had given preference.

Jan Eijkelboom 1926 - 2008 [photo Internet]

Original title: 'Kennis der natuur'- From the collection: 'De wimpers van de dageraad', 1987 - Uitgeverij De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam