WS Rendra & Rudyard Kliping

Ngunandiko.152

WS Rendra & Rudyard Kliping Pada kesempatan ini“Ngunandiko” ingin menyajikan puisi ciptaan WS Rendra (1935 – 2009) dan Rudyard Kliping (1865 – 1936)  sbb :
WS Rendra	Rudyard Kliping
“Sajak Sebatang Lisong”	“The Betrothed”
Menghisap sebatang lisong melihat Indonesia Raya, mendengar 130 juta rakyat, dan di langit dua tiga cukong mengangkang, berak di atas kepala mereka Matahari terbit Fajar tiba Dan aku melihat delapan juta anak-anak tanpa pendidikan Aku bertanya Tapi pertanyaan-pertanyaanku nembentur meja kekuasaan yang macet dan papantulis-papantulis para pendidik yang terlepas dari persoalan pendidikan Delapan juta kanak-kanak menghadapi satu jalan panjang, tanpa pilihan, tanpa pepohonan, tanpa dangau persinggahan, tanpa ada bayangan ujungnya. ………………… Menghisap udara yang disemprot deodorant, aku melihat sarjana-sarjana menganggur berpeluh di jalan raya; aku melihat wanita bunting antri uang pensiun. Dan di langit; para tekhnokrat berkata : bahwa bangsa kita adalah malas, bahwa bangsa mesti dibangun; mesti di-up-grade disesuaikan dengan teknologi yang diimpor Gunung-gunung menjulang. Langit pesta warna di dalam senjakala Dan aku melihat protes-protes yang terpendam, terhimpit di bawah tilam. Aku bertanya, tetapi pertanyaanku membentur jidat penyair-penyair salon, yang bersajak tentang anggur dan rembulan, sementara ketidakadilan terjadi di sampingnya dan delapan juta kanak-kanak tanpa pendidikan termangu-mangu di kaki dewi kesenian. Bunga-bunga bangsa tahun depan berkunang-kunang pandang matanya, di bawah iklan berlampu neon, Berjuta-juta harapan ibu dan bapak menjadi gemalau suara yang kacau, menjadi karang di bawah muka samodra. ……………… Kita harus berhenti membeli rumus-rumus asing. Diktat-diktat hanya boleh memberi metode, tetapi kita sendiri mesti merumuskan keadaan. Kita mesti keluar ke jalan raya, keluar ke desa-desa, mencatat sendiri semua gejala, dan menghayati persoalan yang nyata. Inilah sajakku Pamplet masa darurat. Apakah artinya kesenian, bila terpisah dari derita lingkungan. Apakah artinya berpikir, bila terpisah dari masalah kehidupan.	OPEN the old cigar-box, get me a Cuba stout, For things are running crossways, and Maggie and I are out. We quarrelled about Havanas—we fought o’er a good cheroot, And I know she is exacting, and she says I am a brute. Open the old cigar-box—let me consider a space;         5 In the soft blue veil of the vapour musing on Maggie’s face. Maggie is pretty to look at—Maggie’s a loving lass, But the prettiest cheeks must wrinkle, the truest of loves must pass. There’s peace in a Laranaga, there’s calm in a Henry Clay; But the best cigar in an hour is finished and thrown away—         10 Thrown away for another as perfect and ripe and brown— But I could not throw away Maggie for fear o’ the talk o’ the town! Maggie, my wife at fifty—grey and dour and old— With never another Maggie to purchase for love or gold! And the light of Days that have Been the dark of the Days that Are,         15 And Love’s torch stinking and stale, like the butt of a dead cigar— The butt of a dead cigar you are bound to keep in your pocket— With never a new one to light tho’ it’s charred and black to the socket! Open the old cigar-box—let me consider a while. Here is a mild Manilla—there is a wifely smile.         20 Which is the better portion—bondage bought with a ring, Or a harem of dusky beauties fifty tied in a string? Counsellors cunning and silent—comforters true and tried, And never a one of the fifty to sneer at a rival bride? Thought in the early morning, solace in time of woes,         25 Peace in the hush of the twilight, balm ere my eyelids close, This will the fifty give me, asking nought in return, With only a Suttee’s passion—to do their duty and burn. This will the fifty give me. When they are spent and dead, Five times other fifties shall be my servants instead.         30 The furrows of far-off Java, the isles of the Spanish Main, When they hear my harem is empty will send me my brides again. I will take no heed to their raiment, nor food for their mouths withal, So long as the gulls are nesting, so long as the showers fall. I will scent ’em with best vanilla, with tea will I temper their hides,         35 And the Moor and the Mormon shall envy who read of the tale of my brides. For Maggie has written a letter to give me my choice between The wee little whimpering Love and the great god Nick o’ Teen. And I have been servant of Love for barely a twelvemonth clear, But I have been Priest of Cabanas a matter of seven year;         40 And the gloom of my bachelor days is flecked with the cheery light Of stumps that I burned to Friendship and Pleasure and Work and Fight. And I turn my eyes to the future that Maggie and I must prove, But the only light on the marshes is the Will-o’-the-Wisp of Love. Will it see me safe through my journey or leave me bogged in the mire?         45 Since a puff of tobacco can cloud it, shall I follow the fitful fire? Open the old cigar-box—let me consider anew— Old friends, and who is Maggie that I should abandon you? A million surplus Maggies are willing to bear the yoke; And a woman is only a woman, but a good Cigar is a Smoke.         50 Light me another Cuba—I hold to my first-sworn vows. If Maggie will have no rival, I’ll have no Maggie for Spouse!

Demikianlah puisi “Sajak Sebatang Lisong” ciptaan WS Rendra dan “The Betrothed” ciptaan Rudyad Kliping. Semoga bermanfaat.

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No one can tell me what is a good cigar for me. I am the only judge. People who claim to know say that I smoke the worst cigars in the world. They bring their own cigars when they come to my house (Mark Twain).

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