Friday, December 20, 2024

THEOLOGY



The theologian uses the words, with a poet it is the other way around: the words use the poet.

Guillaume van der Graft (pen name of Willem Barnard)
From an interview in the Flemish magazine Knack





www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry





Thursday, December 19, 2024

CATHEDRAL



For me, a poem is an image in itself, just like those medieval cathedrals that formed an image of what it would be like in heaven. The idea behind it was that if we do our best, we might be able to make something just as beautiful as later in heaven and moreover, that structure can help us to get there, in that real heaven.

Willem Wilmink





www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry





Friday, September 13, 2024

AFFIRMATION



I believe that every poem I write is an affirmation of my supreme freedom, despite my attachment to my body, society, the environment, my friends... Poetry has nothing to do with reality; it is, as Artaud said, working in eternity.

Leopold M. Van den Brande
De Nieuwe Gazet, 08-01-1972



www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry





Friday, August 23, 2024

EXPERTISE



Everything requires expertise: profession, politics, education, even love. But there is an audience that turns away disturbed or conceited when a poem cannot be read and understood at first glance. For these people, poetry must be as flat as their own souls.

Adriaan Morriën




www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry





Friday, August 16, 2024

CELL



The form in poetry is not a cell or an ornament: it simply is the right and colourful, visible appearance.

Vicente Aleixandre




www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry





LABYRINTH



Poetry. What to me is a system, a world palace, a hierarchy, a labyrinth in which I know my way, must for most people be nothing more than a random sound, fibres of a strange world.

Cees Nooteboom, in 'De danser en de monnik'




www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry





INDIVIDUAL



A poem always says something different from what the individual parts actually want to say.

Wim Wenders, during an interview about 'Der Himmel über Berlin'




www.alberthagenaars.nl


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

Critical reviews on modern Dutch poetry