EDIT: I translated it horribly, but it’s along the lines of the abovementioned. It’s a Sinterklaas poem, which rhymes better in Dutch than my crude English translation.
>”Once upon a night,
>When I though it was quite dark,
>I heard the Sint (St. Nicholas) on the roof,
>Who made his rounds in spite of the heavy winds.
>Your dad”
And then make it rhyme 😉
To Dina, 9 December 1940
One night,
When I thought it was rather dark,
On the roof I heard the Sint,
Making his rounds despite the heavy winds.
Your father.
(A rather literal translation.)
Once of a night
While I still found it dark – found it quite dark
I heard on the the roof the Saint (Nicholas = Santa)
Who was making his rounds despite the heavy winds.
Its a Sinterklaas poem.Traditionally people write them to accompany gifts
To Dina. December 9th 1940
Once upon an evening
When I thought it was rather dark
I could hear Sint on the roof
Who was going around like furious wind
Your father.
Once upon a time, on an evening,
When I thought it was rather dark,
I heard, on the roof, the Sint(?),
Who was going the rounds, despite the heavy wind.
Something like this.
What puzzles me is that this was sent on December 9th, after Sinterklaas eve was already over.
[https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poesiealbum](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poesiealbum) it is in Dutch and it is says: A poesie album (or simply poesie) or poetry album is an album in which small poems and rhymes from friends are collected. The concept of poetry album arose when the first copies were imported from Germany. These booklets were labeled Poesie (German for poetry), which was pronounced with the Dutch oe sound.
A less literal translation which keeps the rhyme:
Once upon a night,
When I thought it was rather low light,
I heard on the roof the Sint,
Who was going round regardless of the strong wind.
Once upon a December Night,
It was quite dark if I remember right.
On the roof, I heard Saint Nicholas,
Who was making his rounds despite how windy it was.
I took some liberties with the exact translation in order to make it rhyme, as I saw that there were already some quite literal translations posted here.
Once upon a night
When the darkness caused some fright
On the roof I heard the Sint
Despite the heavy wind
Your father
Less literal. I translated the dark night as the person in the poem being afraid of the dark
To preserve the rhyme a little:
Once upon a night,
When I felt it wasn’t very bright,
On the roof I heard the Sint,
Who was making his rounds despite the heavy wind
Dit moet wel familie zijn van die artiest, Jebroer!
I lived in NL as an Exchange Student from Australia in 2005.
Sinterklaus arrives on a random date in November on a boat.
The 5th is the date of his departure and the main celebration when traditionally poems accompany small gifts.
There are a heap of songs to sing up the chimany the night before and it is heel gezelig.
Your grandmother might have written the poem her father wrote for her down to remember it?
14 comments
Once upon an evening,
When I found it quite dark,
I heard Sint(erklaas) on the roof,
Who went on his round, despite the harsh wind.
* Your father
EDIT: I translated it horribly, but it’s along the lines of the abovementioned. It’s a Sinterklaas poem, which rhymes better in Dutch than my crude English translation.
>”Once upon a night,
>When I though it was quite dark,
>I heard the Sint (St. Nicholas) on the roof,
>Who made his rounds in spite of the heavy winds.
>Your dad”
And then make it rhyme 😉
To Dina, 9 December 1940
One night,
When I thought it was rather dark,
On the roof I heard the Sint,
Making his rounds despite the heavy winds.
Your father.
(A rather literal translation.)
Once of a night
While I still found it dark – found it quite dark
I heard on the the roof the Saint (Nicholas = Santa)
Who was making his rounds despite the heavy winds.
Its a Sinterklaas poem.Traditionally people write them to accompany gifts
To Dina. December 9th 1940
Once upon an evening
When I thought it was rather dark
I could hear Sint on the roof
Who was going around like furious wind
Your father.
Once upon a time, on an evening,
When I thought it was rather dark,
I heard, on the roof, the Sint(?),
Who was going the rounds, despite the heavy wind.
Something like this.
What puzzles me is that this was sent on December 9th, after Sinterklaas eve was already over.
Translation is done by others but I like to refer that this is a poem written in a poeziealbum / poëziealbum / poesiealbum with special poetry pictures / poezie plaatjes https://www.poezieplaatjesenzo.com/c-2970388/poezieplaatjes-enzo/
[https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poesiealbum](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poesiealbum) it is in Dutch and it is says: A poesie album (or simply poesie) or poetry album is an album in which small poems and rhymes from friends are collected. The concept of poetry album arose when the first copies were imported from Germany. These booklets were labeled Poesie (German for poetry), which was pronounced with the Dutch oe sound.
A less literal translation which keeps the rhyme:
Once upon a night,
When I thought it was rather low light,
I heard on the roof the Sint,
Who was going round regardless of the strong wind.
Once upon a December Night,
It was quite dark if I remember right.
On the roof, I heard Saint Nicholas,
Who was making his rounds despite how windy it was.
I took some liberties with the exact translation in order to make it rhyme, as I saw that there were already some quite literal translations posted here.
Once upon a night
When the darkness caused some fright
On the roof I heard the Sint
Despite the heavy wind
Your father
Less literal. I translated the dark night as the person in the poem being afraid of the dark
To preserve the rhyme a little:
Once upon a night,
When I felt it wasn’t very bright,
On the roof I heard the Sint,
Who was making his rounds despite the heavy wind
Dit moet wel familie zijn van die artiest, Jebroer!
I lived in NL as an Exchange Student from Australia in 2005.
Sinterklaus arrives on a random date in November on a boat.
The 5th is the date of his departure and the main celebration when traditionally poems accompany small gifts.
There are a heap of songs to sing up the chimany the night before and it is heel gezelig.
Your grandmother might have written the poem her father wrote for her down to remember it?