This 9 page English translation and very detailed line-by-line analysis of the poem will not only help you understand the poem better, but also enable you to answer any question pertaining to it as the most important Afrikaans words have been written in brackets in the translation for you.
“Mamma” kan ek nie sê nie – Jelleke Wierenga
1. Ek onthou die engel 1. I remember the angel
2. het my van die rand 2. had, on the edge of
3. van wik en weeg 3. going back and forth,
4. afgeskop in jou in 4. kicked me down into you
5. onmoontlik sê hulle 5. impossible they say
6. om te weet van 6. to know about
7. voor tyd se tyd 7. before time’s time
8. maar ek het geweet 8. but I knew
9. wat ek nou weet: 9. what I now know:
10. as jy na my kyk 10. when you look at
me
11. is ek nie 11. I am not
12. in jou oë nie. 12. in your eyes.
Analysis (Analise) of the poem (gedig)
1. Ek onthou die engel “Ek” = personal
(persoonlike) pronoun
(voornaamwoord) which
(wat) indicates (aandui)
that this is a first-person
narrator
(eerstepersoonsverteller).
It also contributes (dra by)
in making the poem more
personal and intimate
(intiem).
PROPERTY OF M SOUNES NO COPYING, SHARING OR DISTRIBUTION OF ANY KIND ALLOWED 1
, The use (gebruik) of the
capital letter (hoofletter)
not only (nie net)
indicates (dui aan) the
beginning of the poem,
but also the speaker’s
thought process
(gedagtegang).
“die” = it is a specific
(spesifieke) angel (engel)
who made (gemaak) the
decision (besluit). The
angel (engel) therefore
(dus) made (gemaak) the
decision (besluit) for (vír)
the mother, not the
mother herself,
emphasizing
(beklemtoon) the idea of
rejection (verwerping) in
the speaker’s mind
(spreker se gedagtes).
2. het my van die rand Effective (effektiewe) use
(gebruik) of
enjambement, showing
(wys) the speaker’s train
of thought
(gedagtegang).
3. van wik en weeg Idiom (idoom): when you
“wik en weeg”, it means
that you go back and
forth between something,
weighing out (oorweeg)
your options (opsies) and
therefore
(dus/daarom/derhalwe)
PROPERTY OF M SOUNES NO COPYING, SHARING OR DISTRIBUTION OF ANY KIND ALLOWED 2
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