Скачать или смотреть Vernietiging (Annihilation) by Herman Charles Bosman

This is a short poem by the famous South African writer, Herman Charles Bosman. It is a moving encapsulation of the stoicism and suffering of the Afrikaans nation, and is accompanied by images that seek to highlight defining events and periods in its history.

VERNIETIGING:

Dis 'n wonderlike ding
Om gebore te wees uit 'n nasie
Wat hulle byna uitgedelg het:
Met honger en swaard
En met laagheid.

Dis 'n digterlike iets
Om te behoort aan
'n Nasie
Wat hulle byna uitgeroei het:
'n Nasie
Wat byna omgekom het,
En hierdie is sy taal.

ANNIHILATION:

It is a wonderful thing
To be born in a nation
That they nearly blotted out:
Through famine and by sword
And with meanness.

It is a poetic thing
To belong to
A nation
That they very nearly eradicated:
A nation
That was almost swallowed up,
And this is it's language.

(Afrikaans)