Deadwood Camp Gedenksboek
Memorabilia from St Helena
Deadwood Camp Gedenksboek
Memorabilia from St Helena
J M'Keown
Rock Perry
20-1-01.
Found in packets of tobacco sent to us every month by our friends in Holland.
They will never have it
A song for the Boers
..let me sing
.once Orpheus sang:
let me also force a tone
which will wring out my heartache:
You, driven through the glow
hero in ordinary life
worthy to sit for portraits
what I could expect from him
as he sits in dark days
soul sick and saddened.
Where to find language, where the words
To depict you, O great hero?
O'er the world's half shattered borders
your name is known across the world!
Yes, oh hero, oh one most-famed hero
May a lyre highlight your virtue
of mine can offer to you now
Can anyone in attendance
Ever forget our greatest hero
Always your heart - "Oom Paul" - never!
His likeness is known in all countries
Spread over the world
His trekking, rough hands,
His shoes, his high hat
His long pipe adds to the image
. drawn effortlessly
. just as well known
His eyes fixed on Chamberlain
that he walked under pretty trees
along with Bismarck.
Yet - there is still in his being
That which cannot be drawn
In his eyes you can read
Not much found in many men
Given by nature only to leaders
To those who would be saviours
for whom is destiny
spark of something heavenly
their life's struggle
his ideal emphasized.
power for which you now wander
until they have spoken to you
the power, which in this life
comes from winning
The faith's fire of prophecy
The glow from poetry
Bearing your mighty bosom
A spirit of highest offering
Which never stops inspiring
Making everything immortal
Because he has placed his trust
In the Almighty
Does he suffer regrets?
Is he disheartened? the hero?
Do they hear him in England?
They listen to his words
.
..
V7 He came along to Europe
Because of England's dastard deed
His country has been robbed of land
His people hounded - his name insulted
He is laden with troubles
And sighs in tears and prayers
On behalf of his country and people.
He waits patiently for the blink of an eye
In which his God will refresh him once more
By removing this dark cloud!
"Will no-one thus arbitrate?"
He asks one in The Hague
"I cannot deny it - we have sinned
Many times - yes, pushed our luck
We were the ones who started the war
But they who drove us to it
With their unreasonable demands
Which 'twas our duty to withstand".
"We have many witnesses
Who will speak of our rights
Let people judge between us
We are right about our people's rights"
Thus pleads the hero, crestfallen
As he pleads in dark days
For freedom - yes, he is the one
Who translates; the pure bell tone who
Sounds the call from bitter camps
On behalf of his oppressed people.
When somebody sympathises
With the lot of his spouse,
He answers he desires to be with her
And that he hopes, through mercy
To return to her side by the grace
Of the Lord's strong right hand.
The enemy have behaved so well
That he cannot complain about her
But oh: the land! the land! the land!
When he pleads, his voice becomes
Soft, like that of a woman,
Whose heart is clamped in fear
And bitter motherly mourning!
Then he thrusts his hands away
As if he's breaking chains which
Bind his people in sorrow.
But, as has been stated,
One must hear him speak
To appreciate the truth
In his powerful words.
Will his future be as we might read
like Moses' going to [Mt] Nebo
Will he then still be an outcast
The rest of his life as a banished one?
We ask, will he have to wait long years
For someone to step in as his arbitrator
Or will he also die at Pisgah?
..the view
..
Will years ring in his ears
The knell of arbitration
While his people let him listen
To the groaning of death?
Must he be treated like a child
Before the powers that be
Recognize he has rights?
Will he return to his beloved land
And once more rule that tiny people
As their free president?
His answer is that with God
All things are made possible -
He helps those who keep his covenant
No matter how big or small.
Here was a man who attributed
All his strength, his power, his works
To the glory of th' Almighty
Whatever happened to him t'was God's will
And he'd be comforted evermore.
But when the "Vierkleur" flutters freely
Free once more 'bove African soil,
And we remember fondly
The bravest who strove for our Fatherland;
When the veld is blooming
And the crops are growing in prosperous fields
Earth shall fatten us and, driven from Eden,
We shall thrive where we kicked tin cans around.
When the lambs bleat in the evenings
Driven by men from field to shed,
A farmer calling in the dark
of blood once more richly seen
When land and cattle breed success
Transvaal will seem a Paradise!
And to the South, East and North
The rugged Vaal River banks
Show off their modest blooms
When land and cattle breed success
Transvaal will look like Paradise
Then in the pleasant days
Oh Mother, those who read these lines
The little children will enquire
"But why was there this struggle?"
Oh! Will you then make it your goal
Yes tell the youngsters
About the noble Afrikaans hero!
Oh! Do not tire of teaching them
To honour the old statesmen
Whose virtue led to many triumphs!
And Fathers, as you sit together
With your family round your hearth
Push all weevils aside
As you stare at Kruger's statue
Will you - for the love, which he showed in his life
For his land, forgive him all!
Yes, make his suffering softer
Let hatred and envy sink into the ground
So that his name could still sound
..
..generation.
Translation by J Marsh
A New English Anthem
To the tune of the "Transvaal Anthem"
("Kent jy dat Volk")
* * * * * * *
Translation by J Marsh
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