Srečko Kosovel

EJ, HEJ		HEY, HEY
Ej, hej: dežuje na sive ljubljanske hiše, Da se zagrinjajo v sivo zaveso pred soncem.		Hey, hey: it's raining on the grey houses of Ljubljana, and they curtain themselves in grey against the sun.
V Trstu nam požigajo Edinost.		They are burning down our Edinost in Trieste.
Krist je prisel v Društvo narodov.		Christ went to the League of Nations.
Ne, to ni tisti dobri, tisti lepi, z glorijo ljubezni obzarjeni.		No, not the good and handsome one glowing in a halo of love.
Psevdokrist je v Ženevi.		There is a Pseudochrist in Geneva.
Kako, ali tudi v Ženevi dežuje?		You say it's raining in Geneva, too?
Krist je prisel med rjave puntarje, tam na sivi ulici stoji in izganja pismarje in farizeje.		Christ went among the brown rebels, there he stands in the grey street banishing scribes and pharisees.
Strelja in ubija.		He shoots and kills.
Strelja in ubija.		Shoots and kills.
O, ti ovcji, ti beli narod!		Oh, you sheepish, you white nation!
Ali spoznaš zdaj, kaj si?		Will you now see yourself for what you are?

A bit of Literature on this sunny summer's day (poletni dan).

Kosovel died aged 22, meningitis they say, in the year 1926 (pre-Antibiotics). He was born when Slovenia belonged to the Austrian/Hungarian empire and died when most of Slovenia was part of a conglomerate of southern Slavs (Yugoslavia).
I like his lively and expressive style, similar to the Germanic poets after WW1. I chose this poem initially as it mentions the city of Geneva (where I went to University).
The text talks about the rise of fascism (the colour brown), the burning of a newspaper called Edinost (unity) in Trieste and it mentions Geneva, as the seat of the "indifferent" league of Nations, a body created post WW1 with the aim to prevent further wars. I'm amazed How right he was...
But what is the white nation he calls sheepish ???
I tried to find out when this poem was written, methinks 1926 - but not sure.

grey   --->   siv
brown   --->   rjav
white   --->   bel


Linguist and Translator Oliver Thalmann