Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Richard Minne

The new republic

The new republic is strong.
Men write it on blank walls.
Schoolboys stare at it long
and sing an Anacreontic song.

The sun shoots up and falls
to pieces across the eaves.
Everyone, wonder of wonders,
is somehow involved in the deed.

When night falls on the square,
round a brasero, silly and warm,
a fashion seamstress dances
with a democratic gendarme.

De jonge republiek

De jonge republiek

De jonge republiek is schoon.
Men schrijft het op de blinde muren.
De schooljeugd staat er op te turen
en zingt een liedje van Anakreoon.

De zon rukt op en tuimelt
uiteen over de daken.
Wonder boven wonder: elkeen
heeft er iets mee te maken.

Des avonds op het plein,
rond een brasero, dwaas en warm,
Danst het kleine modistje met
een demokratischen gendarm.
Close

The new republic

The new republic is strong.
Men write it on blank walls.
Schoolboys stare at it long
and sing an Anacreontic song.

The sun shoots up and falls
to pieces across the eaves.
Everyone, wonder of wonders,
is somehow involved in the deed.

When night falls on the square,
round a brasero, silly and warm,
a fashion seamstress dances
with a democratic gendarme.

The new republic

The new republic is strong.
Men write it on blank walls.
Schoolboys stare at it long
and sing an Anacreontic song.

The sun shoots up and falls
to pieces across the eaves.
Everyone, wonder of wonders,
is somehow involved in the deed.

When night falls on the square,
round a brasero, silly and warm,
a fashion seamstress dances
with a democratic gendarme.
Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère