LL-L "History" 2005.04.25 (05) [E/Turkish]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 25.APR.2005 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: History

Dear Lowlanders,

This is indeed a time of many anniversaries.  Included is the current 90th
anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli/Kilitbahir, Gelibolu, Turkey, during
which thousands and thousands of Australians, New Zealanders and Turks were
massacred.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

***

   AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA

   By Eric Bogle

   Now when I was a young man I carried me pack
   And I lived the free life of the rover.
   From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback,
   Well, I waltzed my Matilda all over.
   Then in 1915, my country said, "Son,
   It's time you stop ramblin', there's work to be done."
   So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
   And they marched me away to the war.

      And the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
      As the ship pulled away from the quay,
      And amidst all the cheers, the flag waving, and tears,
      We sailed off for Gallipoli.

   And how well I remember that terrible day,
   How our blood stained the sand and the water;
   And of how in that hell that they call Suvla Bay
   We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
   Johnny Turk, he was waitin', he primed himself well;
   He showered us with bullets, and he rained us with shell --
   And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell,
   Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

      But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
      When we stopped to bury our slain,
      Well, we buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,
      Then we started all over again.

   And those that were left, well, we tried to survive
   In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
   And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
   Though around me the corpses piled higher.
   Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head,
   And when I woke up in me hospital bed
   And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead --
   Never knew there was worse things than dying.

      For I'll go no more "Waltzing Matilda,"
      All around the green bush far and free -
      To hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs,
      No more "Waltzing Matilda" for me.

   So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed,
   And they shipped us back home to Australia.
   The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane,
   Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
   And as our ship sailed into Circular Quay,
   I looked at the place where me legs used to be,
   And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me,
   To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

      But the band played "Waltzing Matilda,"
      As they carried us down the gangway,
      But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared,
      Then they turned all their faces away.

   And so now every April, I sit on my porch
   And I watch the parade pass before me.
   And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
   Reviving old dreams of past glory,
   And the old men march slowly, all bones stiff and sore,
   They're tired old heroes from a forgotten war
   And the young people ask "What are they marching for?"
   And I ask meself the same question.

***

   DUR YOLCU!

   Necmettin Halil Onan

   Dur yolcu! Bilmeden gelip bastığın,
   Bu toprak, bir devrin battığı yerdir.
   Eğil de kulak ver bu sessiz yığın
   Bir vatan kalbinin attığı yerdir.

   Bu ıssız, gölgesiz yolun sonunda,
   Gördüğün bu tümsek, Anadolu’nda
   İstiklal uğruna, namus yolunda,
   Can veren Mehmet’in yattığı yerdir.

   Bu tümsek, koparken büyük zelzele
   Son vatan parçası geçerken ele
   Mehmet’in düşmanı boğduğu sele
   Mübarek kanını kattığı yerdir.

   Düşün ki haşrolan kan, kemik, etin
   Yaptığı bu tümsek amansız çetin
   Bir harbin sonunda bütün milletin
   Hürriyet zevkini tattığı yerdir.

***

   STOP, TRAVELER!

   By Necmettin Halil Onan
   Draft Translation by R. F. Hahn

   Stop, traveler! Foreign to you this ground
   On which you tread, an era spread.
   Stoop low and hark, for this still mound
   Is where a nation's heart heaves sighs.

   To the left this desolate path with no shade,
   Anatolia's slope, examine it well,
   For it's freedom and honor regained in pain,
   Where Mehmet lay down his life, was slain.

   This self-same mound, when the earth did quake,
   When the last inch of dirt passed to and fro,
   When Mehmet drowned with force the foe,
   Is where he spilled his very blood.

   Where the sacred blood and flesh and bone
   Mounts high and higher, a people at home,
   After ruthless and merciless warfare alone,
   Tasted liberty's bliss and elation.

==============================END===================================
Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l")
are  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================