Wall Poem by GERRIT KOMRIJ

Poem by GERRIT KOMRIJ, Winterswijk 30 March 1944 - Amsterdam 5 July 2012
From Wikipedia:
Gerrit Jan Komrij was born on 30 March 1944 in the eastern Dutch town of Winterswijk, Gelderland. He soon moved to Amsterdam and began a literary career. In 1968 his first volume of poetry was published, "Maagdenburgse halve bollen en andere gedichten", and in 1969 he became editor of the Bert Bakker-founded literary magazine Maatstaf. In the seventies he also became a critic of television, literature, and architecture, well-feared for his colorful and sarcastic language.In the 1970s and 1980s, Komrij and his partner Charles Hofman befriended a number of Dutch authors including Boudewijn Büch, with whom he maintained a lengthy correspondence. In the early 1980s Komrij and Hofman moved to Portugal, not long after his play "Het Chemisch Huwelijk" premiered in Amsterdam; he lived in Portugal ever since. Komrij gave the 2008 Mosse Lecture, titled "Waarom zijn Nederlanders zo dol op homoseksuelen?" (Why are the Dutch so fond of homosexuals?).His death, in 2012, was met with widespread praise for his work. Poet laureate Ramsey Nasr, who cited Komrij as one of inspirations, wrote a poem for him, and Queen Beatrix sent her condolences via telegram to Charles Hofman, saying that the Netherlands had lost a great poet.Lyrics
Komrij wrote librettos to two operas: Symposium by Peter Schat (1994), and Melodias Estranhas by Antonio Chagas Rosa (2000).He supplied lyrics to two collaborative ventures with the Dutch vocal ensemble Camerata Trajectina. The first was in reconstructing song texts to Dutch songs by Jacob Obrecht (2005). The second was in lyrics for the chamber choral cycle De Seven Zonden van Jeroen Bosch (The Seven Sins of Hieronymus Bosch) set to largely anonymous 16th Century tunes (2009). The theme of the Seven Sins follows the depiction in The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things a painting Hieronymus Bosch completed in 1485.Original in Dutch
DE SCHOOLVERLATER
Een rijstebrijberg ben ik doorgegaan
Van schoolse weetjes en verplichte stof,
Waar drang naar vrijheid niet was toegestaan,
Waar alles op mij viel en niets mij trof -Tot ik belandde in een open veld,
ver van de regels en de kouwe drukte,
waar mij een pauw van wijsheid heeft verteld
en ik de kennis van de bomen plukte.Ik had voor nutteloosheid alle tijd
en trof daar goud aan als ik kiezels zocht.
Die wereld heette universiteit.Een wereld die nu, hoor je wel beweren,
Aan wolf en snelheidsduivel wordt verkocht -
Alsof je bankpapier op brood kunt smeren.=========================
English from muurgedichten.nl
THE GRADUATE
I crossed a sea of troubles
Of school facts and mandatory material,
Where the urge for freedom was not allowed,
Where everything fell on me and nothing stuck with me -Until I ended up in an open field,
far from the rules and the hustle and bustle,
where I have been told by a peacock about wisdom
and I picked the knowledge from the trees.I had plenty of time for futilities
and found gold where I was looking for pebbles.
That world was called university.A world that now, it has been said,
is sold to wolves and speed demons -
As if bank notes can be spread on bread.Translation: Natasja Oorthuis