The summer has become old

with the shadow of its fish

and the burning wheel over there

on the hill has stopped

burning. Over the rocks

circles a bird of prey

and nears.

Standing on the forecastle I drop

anchor between the brambles,

turn round once more

and leave the terrace.

Hans Faverey (1933–1990) was born in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana, and grew up in Amsterdam. In 1968 he made his debut with the collection Gedichten [Poems], for which he received the Poetry Prize of the Municipality of Amsterdam. The big breakthrough came in 1977 with his third collection Chrysanten, roeiers for which he received the Jan Campert Prize. In 1990 Constantijn Huygens Prize for his body of work, which includes eight published volumes of poetry and scores of posthumous poems. He liked to play the harpsichord and read the Presocratics.

Philippe Hunt was born in Brussels in 1952, to a Welsh father and a Walloon mother. He studied at the Athénée Royal d’Ixelles, at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (English and Dutch Literature and Language, followed by History of Philosophy), and Yale (Comparative Literature). He taught literature and philosophy, mainly at the Brussels Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. He spent a few years in Cambodia. His chief hobby is to read books in a variety of languages.