May: An epic poem about youth (The Essential Gorter) - Softcover

Gorter, Herman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9083133648 ISBN 13: 9789083133645

Publisher: Arimei Books, 2021

Synopsis

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. 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.

English-only edition. Includes a foreword by Lloyd Haft, an introduction by the translator, notes to the text and a synopsis.

The reader is drawn almost breathlessly onward through magnificent word-groups ... The result is a gripping story full of surprising turns of phrase ... Before you know it, you'll be reading it out loud! - Lloyd Haft, prizewinning poet and translator

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. - BookLife Editor's Pick

The translation has been done meticulously ... with an intensity of language which reveals intuitive clarity of vision and profound empathy ... I recommend that you begin this journey without loss of time. - Anne Walter, editor, ex. Birmingham University

Translating Mei, the epic poem by Herman Gorter, requires musicality ... A great achievement by [translator] Kruijff, with inventive rhyme. It is possible! - Arjan Peters, Dutch literary critic

Edition details

• Publisher: Arimei Books
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9083133648
• ISBN 13: 9789083133645
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 178