# doe ik alles in stukken springen



## gred

I am trying to get a good translation in English, that reflects what was intended, from a Dutch post card.
The text is:
doe ik alles in stukken springen
zoo ge my niet
wilt beminnen

With google's help, I thnk it would be something like 
I do everything, jumping to pieces 
so you are not mine
to love

Can anyone help?

Here is the link to the postcard, scroll down to see the fold out part and full text

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230625245819


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## Joannes

The correct order is: Zoo ge mij niet wilt beminnen, doe ik alles aan stukken springen

Translation: If you would not love me, I will make it all go to pieces (lit. jump to pieces)

FYI: The use of _zo _as 'if', the 2nd person pronoun, and the spelling all indicate an older form of Dutch, but it would be understood by contemporary speakers


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## Jogou

Yes, it would be ancient Dutch...
Seems like a line from a 18th century stalker....


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## Peterdg

Even een opmerkingetje over de Engelse vertaling:

If you won't/don't love me, I'll make it ...

If you would not love me ...


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## NewtonCircus

Hi Gred,

I would like to add my two cents worth. 

I don’t know what you mean by _meaning_. Language has obviously more than one dimension and I think the text also has a modest poetic component. Not Shakespeare but still.  

The reason why I think this is that judging from the style of clothes, the postcard is presumably early twentieth century maybe late nineteenth, (The spelling of ‘zoo’ I believe changed to the modern days ‘zo’ in the thirties). This is possibly hard for you to judge, but the word order is more like Yoda saying "_Message from the dark side, there is_". I don’t think a person from that time would speak like this in a normal conversation, unless he or she wanted to add some drama to it. I can’t ask my granddad anymore since he is no longer around.


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## Joannes

Peterdg said:


> Even een opmerkingetje over de Engelse vertaling:
> 
> If you won't/don't love me, I'll make it ...
> 
> If you would not love me ...


Yes, I went for an older English construction to reflect the older Dutch.. and it has the advantage of keeping the meaning of volition.

Probably there's also a better, non-literal translation for "in stukken doen springen" as well, but it wouldn't explain the postcard.


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## gred

Thanks everyone for your assistance.  I liked the postcard and bought it, and now have a pretty good idea of the meaning.


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