Tuesday, March 26, 2024

ADRIAAN ROLAND HOLST



It is only in the youth of a poet that the influence of another poet can be beneficial and productive without cornering his independence from that subordination in which this first fresh air of admiration is corrupted by surpressed resentment.


From a speech for fellow poet Gerrit Achterberg



Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

Saturday, February 17, 2024

G.M. BERELAF



Reciting poems is quite pointless. I know how it goes for myself as a spectator: I always only get a few impressions, which are mainly due to the performance. I've seen people recite crappy poems in a beautiful way, and beautiful poems in a crappy way. The charm of the presentation is therefore much more important than what you have to say.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl


Thursday, January 25, 2024

JOHN IRONS


The Dutch poet Gerrit Komrij, himself a seasoned translator, once remarked "Keep away from translating if you’re not a poet". He is absolutely right. Translating poetry means creating poetry. And in that sense the poet and translator are equals.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

Monday, December 11, 2023

HUBERT VAN HERREWEGHEN (3)


I have begged God to spare me the trial of poetry. It's a terrible burden, worse than I let on.




When I now compare my poems, I notice that every poem is different for me. It's shorter, it's longer, it goes like this or like that. It's very simple: I have thousands of notes and I get them, down to the one that wrote itself all by itself. Then it's work. It is a mine, a silver mine; there are ores, but workers and installations are needed to mine the silver, to extract the poetry.




I, really, have no secrets. Of course, one poem is not the same as the other. There are many ways; I can't control it. I'm a loser and I think most poets feel that way. Actually, it's all about dabbling, fussing and trying to make something of it.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

Thursday, November 30, 2023

HENDRIK CARETTE (2)


I am a tragically slow poet, a tormented calligrapher on the firewood of my word pile. So I feel like I'm constantly running out of time. After all, I am no stranger to the struggle with time. Moreover, I am very reluctant to any easy work. I also don't want to fall into a kind of parody of my own style.





As a pale romantic poet, I am only too happy to mask the gigolo. As an anachorete I suppress the bon vivant in me and vice versa, of course.




Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

MAURICE GILLIAMS


A mountain always has style. We have to conquer style. But that mountain has it by its nature. Style. And you can't change that. That's complete, isn't it? That's what I'm trying to do. That such a poem, the feeling, gives the impression that not one word can follow anymore now.





Also see:

Frozen poets - Sculptures, graves and other traces of poets

Dutch poetry in Indonesian language, translated by Siti Wahyuningsih and Albert Hagenaars

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry



www.alberthagenaars.nl
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