Een Engelstalige bloemlezing uit het werk van Herman Gorter, incl. Mei en rijke selectie uit Verzen (1890), Pan, Liedjes: 'May', vertaald door M. Kruijff en 'Selected Poems', vertaald door Lloyd Haft.The Netherlands is a small country, and its language has never become widely known in the rest of the world. As a result, many a Dutch writer who surely would have become world-famous if he or she were writing in English or French has had to remain content with a modest and local level of fame. This has been especially true of poets, given the exceptional difficulty of translating poetry. If Dutch were a world language, one of the poets who unquestionably would have become world-renowned is Herman Gorter (1864-1927). In Holland, he was famous from an early stage as a writer of both epic and lyric verse. Due to the lack of translations, let alone good translations, abroad he has remained known, if at all, as a once-prominent early exponent of socialism and communism. In The Netherlands, whether or not because under Covid conditions more people are staying at home and reading books, there has recently been a rediscovery of this major poet, even something of a revival. Appropriately, an extensive selection from Gorter’s main poetic works is now being made available to English readers in excellent translations via the new two-volume set The Essential Gorter. Volume One is M. Kruijff’s translation of May (Mei, 1889), a long epic poem with which Gorter broke into immediate fame when he was only twenty-four. For generations of Dutch schoolchildren, this was the poem that Gorter would always be remembered by. Set against the twin backgrounds of Old Norse mythology and magnificent Dutch land- and seascapes, the story is an allegorical tale with which everyone can identify – of youth, its discovery of love and ideals, and the eventual...but no, no spoilers here! Kruijff’s translation, written in a style which perfectly echoes the mythic-historic tone of the original, comprises nearly 150 pages of text. It is accompanied by suggestive color illustrations and followed by a synopsis of the story, notes on the text, and a brief biographical sketch of Herman Gorter. If Volume One presents the epic side of Gorter’s writing, Volume Two, Selected Poems, introduces the reader to the other side of Gorter – his unique and timelessly intriguing lyric poems. Translator Lloyd Haft, himself a prize-winning poet best known for his free-verse adaptation of the Psalms, has put together a rich selection of lyric poems from various stages of Gorter’s career. They include introspective and stylistically daring poems from Verses (Verzen, 1890), lyric high points from the book-length Pan (1916), and the first presentation in English of Gorter’s last work, the posthumously published Lyrics (Liedjes, 1930) in which visionary ideals and erotic intensity combine to form an unforgettable personal myth. Haft’s introduction gives background information on the development of Gorter’s thought and career as well as glimpses of the specific linguistic difficulty of translating this outstanding Dutch poet. This two-volume set, with its nearly 350 pages of poetry and background information on Gorter and his writing career, finally puts the many sides of Gorter’s art within reach of the English reader in a single compact and attractive format. It is sure to win many new enthusiasts, not only among English readers but among Dutch readers who may be aware of Gorter but have never taken time to explore the various sides of his deservedly lasting oeuvre.

Herman Gorter's masterpiece, in a translation that celebrates youth's sweet melancholy. Special bilingual and annotated edition, with a foreword by Lloyd Haft. Volume 1 of 'The Essential Gorter'.'May' is Volume 1 of 'The Essential Gorter'. The classic original Dutch text 'Mei' is included in this special edition. 'May' describes the magical journey of adolescence against the background of Holland’s flowery dunescapes. In strokes of wonder-filled impressions a stunningly unspoiled girl, May, explores the promise of springtime and the intense spiritual life of youth. However, the cycle of life always moves on, and as May matures and returns to earth, she finds it readying for summer. When Herman Gorter published 'May' (Dutch: Mei) in 1889, this spontaneous and vibrant epic poem was immediately recognized by his peers as a landmark of Dutch literature. 'May' was perhaps an inevitable product of the artistically revolutionary and highly lucid spirit in The Netherlands of the 1880s. While Gorter’s contemporary, Vincent Van Gogh, had just completed the groundbreaking 'Sunflowers' series of paintings, Gorter succeeded with 'May' in composing his own artistic monument of colourful and innovative power. 'The reader is drawn almost breathlessly onward through magnificent word-groups ... full of surprising turns of phrase ... Before you know it, you'll be reading it out loud!' - Lloyd Haft, poet 'Closer to Gorter is near impossible' - Jan de Jong for Tzum. 'A must-read for anyone with an interest in language and poetry...' - Dr. Jacqueline Bel, Professor of Literature, VU Amsterdam, CAANS Magazine. 'This thoughtful, lyrical translation will stir the imagination and invite consideration of what makes the heart sing, even if the joy, like May, is only temporary. The poem, though, will endure.' - Editor's Pick, Booklife Translated by M. Kruijff. Bilingual and annotated edition.Tzum.nlRecensie door Jan de Jong...Dichter bij Gorter zal geen Engelstalige lezer ooit komen. Zowel in Verzen, als in Mei, Pan of in enig ander werk was Herman Gorter allereerst een stemmingsdichter, iemand die bij uitstek zijn lezers op een golf van gevoel kon meevoeren. Dát is de kern van zijn werk. En de twee delen van The Essential Gorter juist daarin meesterlijk geslaagd.

Gorter's masterpiece May is a landmark of Dutch literature. This thoughtful, lyrical translation will invite consideration of what makes the heart sing, even if the joy, like May, is only temporary.May describes the magical journey of adolescence against the background of Holland’s flowery dunescapes. In brush strokes of wonder-filled impressions a stunningly unspoiled girl, May, explores the promise of springtime and the intense spiritual life of youth. However, the cycle of life always moves on, and as May matures and returns to earth, she finds it readying for summer. When Herman Gorter published May (Mei) in 1889, this spontaneous and vibrant epic poem was immediately recognized by his peers as a landmark of Dutch literature. Inspired in part by John Keats' Endymion (1818), May was perhaps an inevitable product of the artistically revolutionary and highly lucid spirit in The Netherlands of the 1880s. While Gorter’s contemporary, Vincent van Gogh, had just completed the groundbreaking Sunflowers series of paintings, Gorter succeeded with May in composing his own monument of colourful and innovative power. 'A gripping story... breathlessly onward through magnificent word groups... full of surprising turns of phrase... before you know it, you'll be reading it out loud!' - Lloyd Haft, poet 'This thoughtful, lyrical translation will stir the imagination and invite consideration of what makes the heart sing, even if the joy, like May, is only temporary. The poem, though, will endure.' - Editor's Pick, BookLife

The most extensive selection in English of poems by one of the all-time great Dutch poets, Herman Gorter (1864-1927), incl. selection from the sensitivist Verses, the socially engaged Pan and Lyrics.This is the most extensive selection in English of poems by one of the all- time great Dutch poets, Herman Gorter (1864-1927). A companion volume to M. Kruijff’s translation of the epic May, this book welcomes the reader to the rich spectrum of Gorter’s lyric verse. The selection traces the stages of Gorter’s career as a poet. It opens with 22 poems from his introvertive ‘sensitivist’ Verses (Verzen, 1890) which have been called the beginning of modern Dutch poetry. These are followed by poems from later collections in which Gorter was transitioning to a less self- and more world-focused perspective. In the subsequent passages from the long epic Pan (1912/1916), he has clearly become a ‘socialist’ poet, albeit in a unique visionary sense. He is now pursuing a theme which will obsess him for the rest of his life: how to address the object of his love as both an individual woman and an incarnate summation of all humanity. The rest of the book comprises the first publication in English of Gorter’s little-known last work Lyrics (Liedjes,1930). Haft’s judicious abridgment preserves the structure, erotic themes, and lyric high points of this outstanding sequence which originally occupied three volumes. Translator Lloyd Haft (1946) grew up in the USA and graduated from Harvard. Graduate studies in Chinese took him to Leiden, and he has lived in The Netherlands since 1968. He soon discovered a fascination with modern Dutch poetry, starting with Herman Gorter’s famous (or notorious) Verses. He became a regular translator for Poetry International and published ten volumes of his own poetry in Dutch, including a free-verse adaptation of the Psalms which won the 2004 Ida Gerhardt Prize. Professionally, for many years Lloyd Haft taught Chinese language and literature at Leiden University. Since retirement he has spent much of his time in Taiwan with his wife Katie Su, a writer on theater arts in Taiwan. His collected translations from the metaphysical poet Zhou Mengdie are scheduled for publication in 2021.