Re: CHAT: various infotaining natlang tidbits

>*   excerpt from _Khotbah_ <Sermon> a poem by Indonesian poet W.S. Rendra:
>
>    ... Darah itu bong-bong-bong
>    Darah hidup bang-bing-bong.
>    Darah hidup bersama bang-bing-bong-bong.
>    Hidup harus beramai-ramai.
>    Darah bergaul dengan darah.
>    Bong-bong-bong. Bang-bing-bong. ...
>
>    <<... The blood is bong-bong-bong
>    The Blood of life is bang-bing-bong.
>    The blood of the common life is bang-bing-bong-bong.
>    Life must be lived in a noisy group.
>    Blood must mix with blood.
>    Bong-bong-bong. Bang-bing-bong. ...>>
>
>    NOTE: in the above poem - in the national language of Indonesia, Bahasa
>Indonesia - the "Bong-bong-bong. Bang-bing-bong" etc. are onomatpoetic
>imitations of LOUD _gamelan_ music.
>    "Life must be lived in a noisy group./Blood must mix with blood." is
>alluding to the fact that there are many ethnic groups in Indonesia and
that
>they need to mix (this poem is nationalistic).>
Very nice.  Perhaps also to note:  "ramai" is a positive quality in Ml/Indo
culture-- noisy group, but FUN.  I doubt that an angry mob would be
considered ramai, tho I could be mistaken......

One of my favorites is Chairil Anwar's "Di mesjid" (At the Mosque), a
dialogue between the poet and God.  I only remember the final lines:

    ...binasa-membinasa, nista-menista,
    yang satu marah, yang lain gila.

"destroying each other, hurling insults,
the one angry, the other mad(crazy)."

I'm not sure just who's angry, who mad (and I'm not sure the BI is clear on
that either), but I suspect it's God who's mad.

Know any _pantun_, Jonathan?  The only one I remember well:

Kalau ada sumur di ladang,
kita bisa bersama mandi.
Kalau ada umur panjang,
kita bisa bertemu lagi.

If there's a well/spring in the field
we can bathe together.
If there's/we have long life
we can meet again.