Thoughts

A Sunbird’s Display (On an Overcast Day)

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A Displaying Sunbird, 11 July 2020. Copyright 2020 Forgotten Fields. All rights reserved.
Cinnyris chalybeus

When the Southern Double-collared Sunbird male displays to attract a mate—its chief concern, this time of year (mid-winter in South Africa)—it reveals yellow tufts on its shoulders that are usually concealed. So far, I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to photograph it in this state—somehow, it is either too windy, or the bird refuses to keep still, or (as was the case yesterday) the light conspires against me. This was the best of yesterday’s set, with heavy adjustment to the shadows to make the feathers in question visible.

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Wat swewe soos ’n wysie

Pronounced [vutt sweevuh swis uh veyssy]1, the above is a line composed for “Skaapwagterjie”, the Afrikaans counterpart2 of “Shepherd Girl”. It translates to “That floats like a tune”, which does nothing to convey the alliterative and onomatopoeic beauty that Afrikaans achieves in this simple string of syllables. Incidentally, I am unable to use the line as no configuration of the stanza in which it is meant to appear permits me; but what a joy to have conceived of it!

  1. The [uh] like the “a” in “about”.
  2. I now prefer “counterpart” as a description of “Skaapwagtertjie”’s relationship with “Shepherd Girl” rather than “translation”. Whilst the process is that of translation, my goal is an Afrikaans poem in its own right.