THE FRAGRANT FIELD

The following is a poem in Dutch that mentions Javanese historical events.
I shall not bother translating it, because poems in translation become mere doggerel at best, gibberish at worst.
However, I do provide notes underneath that may clarify.


HET GEURIGE VELD

Amangkoerat heeft meer dan dertig jaren
In 't oude rijk Mataram geregeerd,
En meer dan onder Soeltan Ageng waren
In list en lust zijn machtigen volleerd.

Meer nog dan in zijn vaders wreede tijden
Lag zwart gebrek in 't leeggeroofde veld.
Dood en verwoesting, vuur en zwaard verspreidden
Zijn trotschen naam in daden van geweld.

Totdat hij, zat van zinnen, in het slijten
Van ledige uren zijn voldoening vond:
Amangkoerat, de Keizer, dreef zijn geiten
Over de pleinen van den Kraton rond.

Toen, in zijn ouderdom, kwamen de dagen
Van tegenspoed, de dagen van gevaar:
Zijn huis verdeeld, zijn oversten verslagen,
Van angst en afschuw zijn gedachten zwaar.

't Verraad sloop rond. De Madoereesche benden
Drongen tot in zijn open hofstad door.
Amangkoerat, de Keizer der ellende,
Werd als het wild, de jagers op zijn spoor.

Hij vluchtte, - maar 't vermoeide leven kwijnde
In 't lijf, waarvoor hij zwervend toevlucht zocht.
Toen vroeg de vorst alleen, dat na zijn einde
Een geurig veld zijn lijk ontvangen mocht.

Hij stierf. En door zijne enkele getrouwen
Werd aan den uitgesproken wens voldaan.
Nu brengen op zijn graf bedroefde vrouwen
Haar wierook en haar wilde bloemen aan.

Kinderen spelen er, bejaarde wijzen
Zoeken den boom, die van den heuvel helt
En schaduw schenkt, - en vrome pelgrims reizen
Eerbiedig naar het zoet geurende veld.


Written by Jan Prins (1876 - 1948) in Surabaya in 1908. From 'Indische Gedichten' - published 1932.

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NOTES

Amangkoerat - name of an emperor of Mataram (Amangkurat I, who was driven from Plered to Tegal by the Madurese invaders in 1672).

Mataram - A Javanese empire that endured from the fifteen hundreds to the seventeen hundreds - the name is still used for the successor princedoms, though when the empire was still united the term was less common.

In the latter half of the sixteenth century Kyai Gedhe Pamanahan, also called Kyai Gedhe Mataram (who was descended from Ki Ageng Sela) became the ruler of the Mataram region. His son, Suta Wijaya (styled Panembahan Senapati Ing Alag, often shortened to Senapati, which means 'army-lord') succeeded him around 1584. It is because of Senapati's campaigns against Padjang and Demak that Mataram rose to become the major power in Java.

[Kyai = Honourable Lord. Gedhe = Great, awesome. Wijaya = Victorious. Panembahan = One to whom the 'semba' (a worshipful and abnegatory gesture) is made.
For the terms I do not explicate you are on your own.]

The heirs of the royal house of Mataram still have thrones: Hamengku Buwono (He Who Holds The World In his Embrace), Paku Alam (The Axis of the World), Paku Buwono (The Axis of the World), and Mangku Nagara (The Guarantor of the State).
The first two mentioned are located in Yogyakarta, the latter two in Surakarta. All derive from the same original house - the separation into different thrones was during the colonial period and suited the purposes of the Dutch far more than that of the princes.

Sultan Ageng - Sultan Ageng Hanyokro Kusumo (Raden Mas Rangsang, reigned 1613 - 1645), one of the most important Sultans of Mataram, who suppressed several revolts against the supremacy of the empire founded by his ancestor Senapati, but failed in his attempt to take Batavia from the Dutch. His grave is a pilgrimage site, as are those of many of his successors.

Zijn vader's vrede tijden - "His father's cruel era", in reference to the years of Sultan Ageng's father, Panembahan Seda Ing Krapyak (reigned 1601 - 1613), the son of Senapati. It was a time of conflict, during which princes abraded each other's tax-bases with abandon. Largely due to the resultant decline in population, the Dutch were able to cement their control of the west of Java and the port cities, and Chinese immigrants were brought in by both the Dutch and Javan rulers to repopulate formerly prosperous areas.

Geiten - goats.

Kraton - Term for a palace, also rendered as Kedaton and Kedatuan, in which we see the root 'dato' (Javanese and several other languages: Ratu), which ranges in meaning from 'chieftain' to 'royal' (in Javanese, it nowadays means 'queen').
A kraton is a residence of a prince, usually located at a nexus of mystical power. In Javanese and Balinese the correct terms is 'pura' (Sanskrit: gated city), often rendered as 'puro dalem' (the inside city).

Madoereesche benden - Madurese gangs, in reference to an invasion of Java from Madura during the seventeenth century. The Madurese are natives of an island (Madura) north of Java which was often part of the Javanese sphere of influence, and which has a culture related to that of Java (as do Bali and some areas in Borneo and southern Sumatra). The suppression of Madura by Senapati in 1622 laid the basis for subsequent irredentist tendencies, which were manifested by the revolt of Raden Truna Jaya of Madura and culminated in the capture of the Mataram court city in 1677.

In modern Indonesia, the Madurese have a reputation for chicanery, cruelty, and coarseness (in some part due to their looting of Mataram over three centuries ago). They are at times ethically crippled. A number of years ago Madurese transmigrants were the targets of indignant Dayaks in Indonesian Borneo who wished to speak to them severely about their several years of misbehaviour on that island, and undo them of their heads.

Geurig veld - Fragrant field. In the poem, mention is made of Emperor Amangkurat's expressed desire that his mortal remains be buried in a fragrant field. The location has since become a place of pilgrimage. In the poem the emperor's request to be buried in a fragrant field comes after the flight from the palace city, when he is a hunted man, and his body has become a tormentation.

Bedroefde vrouwen - grieving women.

Haar wierook en haar wilde bloemen - Literally: 'her incense and her wild flowers'. But note that in Dutch 'haar' (her) is both singular and plural, so it means 'their incense and their wild flowers' (as tribute offerings at his grave).

Vrome pelgrims - faithful pilgrims. Note that 'vroom' is the same as Yiddish and Yeshivish 'frum'.

Eerbiedig - with respect.

Het zoet geurend veld - the sweet-smelling field.