Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Seamus Heaney

HÖFN

HÖFN

De drietongige gletsjer begint te smelten.
Wat doen we, vragen ze, als rolstenen
Door de deltavlakten komen aanzetten
 
En het mijlendiepe smeerijs begint te schuiven?
Ik zag het, geplooid en rotsvast, van boven,
Ondode grijze aardkast, vel van eonen,
 
En vreesde de kou die toch genoeg leek
Om het beslagen vliegtuigraam te beijzelen,
De lekkende, diamantharde afsplitsing te bevriezen
 
En elke warme mondwaterende toespeling.

HÖFN

The three-tongued glacier has begun to melt.
What will we do, they ask, when boulder-milt
Comes wallowing across the delta flats
 
And the miles-deep shag-ice makes its move?
I saw it, ridged and rock-set, from above,
Undead grey-gristed earth-pelt, aeon-scruff,
 
And feared its coldness that still seemed enough
To iceblock the plane window dimmed with breath,
Deepfreeze the seep of adamantine tilth
 
And every warm, mouthwatering word of mouth.
Close

HÖFN

The three-tongued glacier has begun to melt.
What will we do, they ask, when boulder-milt
Comes wallowing across the delta flats
 
And the miles-deep shag-ice makes its move?
I saw it, ridged and rock-set, from above,
Undead grey-gristed earth-pelt, aeon-scruff,
 
And feared its coldness that still seemed enough
To iceblock the plane window dimmed with breath,
Deepfreeze the seep of adamantine tilth
 
And every warm, mouthwatering word of mouth.

HÖFN

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
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VDM
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