Dutch/Example 15

ex 15 Dichtkunst ~ Poetry Vondel, Tollens, Van Duyse Vondel (1587-1679) Joost van den Vondel is to Dutch literature what Shakespeare is to the English one: the Grand Old Master, who wrote magnificent dramatic plays, but whose language is not always easy to understand. The orthography of the 17th century has some remarkable similarities with English, e.g. the use of -ck- (ick) instead of -k- (ik) or the use of -gh- (ooghen) instead of -g- (ogen) for the guttural spirant. In English it still occurs in word like laugh, though or nigh although it has either gone mute or been replaced by [f]. Of course there are also more case endings in his language than there are today In 1632 Van den Vondel had to witness the death of his little son Constantijn and he wrote a famous poem about it. At the end of his 91 year long life he had outlived all but one grandson. thumb|Joost van den Vondel 1665 noicon|40px Kinder-lyck. means both kinderlijk: childlike and kinder-lijk: a child's corps Constantijntje, 't zaligh kijntje zalig: blessed, beatified, kijntje: little boy Cherubijntje, van om hoogh from above (heaven), D'ydelheden ijdelheid: vanity, hier beneden, Vitlacht uitlachen: laugh at met een lodderoogh a friendly eye. Moeder, zeit zegt: says hy, waarom schreit weep ghy? Waarom greit cry ghy, op mijn lijck body, corps? Boven leef ick, boven zweef float ick, Engeltje van 't hemelrijck Little angel of the realm of heaven: En ick blinck shine 'er, en ick drincker drink there, 't Geen That which de schincker cupbearer, pourer but also giver, donator alles goets genitive: of al goed Schenckt pours, donates de zielen souls, die daar krielen, krioelen: to swarm Dertel frolicking van veel overvloets partitive: of much abundance. Leer dan reizen learn to travel met gepeizen thoughtfulness Naar pallaizen palaces, uit from out of het slick slik: muck, mud Dezer werrelt genitive feminine: van deze wereld. of this world, die zoo dwerrelt is whirling: stirred by trouble. Eeuwigh gaat voor oogenblick Eternity trumps the temporal. Vondel Little Constantine, the blessed babe Little cherubs, down from on high laughs at the vanities down here with a friendly eye Mother, he says, why do you weep why do you cry on my body? Up here I live, up here I float Little angel of the realm of heaven And I shine there and I drink there what the giver of all good pours for the souls that swarm there frolicking for sheer abundance Learn to travel then with thoughtfulness to palaces, out of the mud of this world that is so troubled Eternity goes before the moment. Tollens (1780-1856) Tollens's parents came from Gent, but he grew up in Holland and joined a paint company founded there by Johannes Jodocus Tollens in 1748. As a poet he was much admired in his day, including in Flanders as we shall seen below. He wrote mostly about the beauty and virtue of ordinary family life and about loyalty and love for God an country. In the 1880's a new generation of poets -to which e.g. Gorter belonged- would find fault with the very conservative state that Dutch literature had fallen into. Although Tollens was long dead by then, he became one of the prime targets of their scorn. So much so that it took to our own days for the poet to become judged by his own merits again, rather then through the eyes of the Tachtigers as they were called. Tollens wrote many rather lengthy poems, but in this short one he revisits the same issue as Vondel did two centuries before and his version shows remarkable parallels with Vondel's poem. thumb|250px|Tollens noicon|40px 't Kruipend crawling rupsje little caterpillar, moe gekropen having crawling until exhaustion, Mat getobd worried to resignation in de enge cel narrow cell (of its body), Brak zijn kluisje little vault fladdrend fluttering open, Klapwiekte clapping its wings uit zijn dorre wilted schel schil: peel, shell. Zie, daar wiegt sways het, zie, daar zweeft het, Logger genitive of log: of plump, of unwieldy drang stress en druk pressure ontvlugt ontvlucht: escaped; Hooger vliegt het, hooger leeft het, Zat gespeeld played to saturation in lager lucht air. Voedster wetnurse, droog de natte wangen cheeks, Tuur niet don't stare op de doode pop chrysalis, pupa, Blijf niet aan zijn webje little web hangen blijf niet hangen: don't get stuck: 't Vlindertje the little butterfly is niet weer te vangen cannot be caught again: 's Hemels genitive masc.: of the heaven englen vingen 't op took it up. Tollens The crawling little caterpillar exhausted from its crawling Worried to resignation in the narrow cell broke open its little vault in a flutter clapping its wings flew out of its wilted peel See, there is sways, there it floats escaped from unwieldy stress and pressure Higher it flies, higher it lives Tired of playing in lower air Wetnurse, dry the wet cheeks do not stare at the dead pupa do not be trapped in its little web the little butterfly cannot be caught again Heaven's angels took it up. Prudens Van Duyse (1804-1859) Prudence Van Duyse was an important figure is the Vlaamse Beweging, the movement in Flanders that resisted the pressure to squeeze out the Dutch language and its Flemish dialects in favor of everything French. He wrote much of better days that Flanders had seen, particularly its heighday in 1304 when it thwarted the French king's attempts to gain greater control over Flanders in a pitched battle against French nobility. For Tollens however, Van Duyse had nothing but praise, that he expressed in a pretty lengthy poem of which we show one stanza here. thumb|Prudens van Duyse noicon|40px Aen Tollens Kunstschilder painter van het huislik leven domestic life, Bard van den nederlandschen roem fame, Bevoorrecht Privileged BatavierThe Batavii were a tribe that the Roman found living in the region between the great rivers. During the French revolution the Republic of the Netherlands toppled the old regime and the House of Orange went into exile, the Republic was renamed the Batavian Republic. So, Batavian is a nickname for Dutchman, 't geluk werd u gegeven, Dat May lentefrischeid the freshness of spring van 't vernuft the mind uw oudte old age ombloem' adorn as with flowers; - Dat gy, naest de uwen nêergezeten, God eert honor in zyner schepslen his creatures' keten chain, En van naby zyn glans, met biddend hart praying heart, bespiedt behold, Die zich in Oceaen en waterdrop weêrspiegelt reflects. Heil u! waer where gy eens werd gewiegeld cradled, Leeft, als in Vlaenderland Flanders, uw lied song. To Tollens Painter of domestic life Bard of Dutch fame Privileged Batavian, fortune was given to you May the freshness of spring of the mind adorn your old age as with flowers That you, sitting besides your people honor God in the chain of his creatures and from up close behold his gloss with praying heart that reflects itself in ocean and drop of water Hail to you! Where you were once cradles Lives, as in the land of Flanders, your song. Appendix