Indische Letteren. Jaargang 16

[p. 170]

Jan Prins [CL. Schepp] (Morks Magazijn, oktober 1925, p. 38).

[p. 171]

Ethos, impression and symbol
The work of Jan Prins and the Indische gedichten¹
Lisa Migo

This essay concentrates on the life and works of Jan Prins (1876-1948), the pseudonym of Christian Louis Schepp, who is more familiar today for his translation work and efforts to raise Daum's profile in the 1930s, than for his poetry. His poetry was published in the early twentieth century, a time when colonial literature flourished. However, the poetry inspired by the Indies has always received far less attention than novels. To the modern reader, he is one of the poets who now ‘nog maar namen lijken’.² However, his work was popular and well-received when first published.³ Only in 1998, fifty years after Prins' death, has any new critical material been published, none of which examines his Indies poetry in any depth.⁴

The essential qualities and character of Prins' poetry lies in its treatment of the scenery of the Dutch East Indies which were often simply the setting, a background to the gossipy narrative. Prins, however, gives great importance to this natural ‘background’, an opinion which is confirmed by Nieuwenhuys, though in a slightly negative way: ‘De Indonesische achtergrond wordt bij hem wel eens wat veel voorgrond waarbij de aanwezigheid van den dichter in het gedicht wegwijkt in een lust tot schilderen.’⁵ Prins uses the scenery on two levels in his poetry, firstly on a natural level to illustrate the beauty of the Indies which he loved, and secondly, on a symbolic level which reveals some of the secrets and tensions within the colony. This second theme in his poetry shows his liking for allegory and wish to reveal some of the secrets and enigmas which the Indies presented to the Westerner.

1 This is a revised version of an undergraduate essay (June 2000), supervised by Dr Kris Steyaert at the University of Hull.

2 Sötemann 1998, p. 184.

3 Verwey 1921, pp. 37-45. In this volume the author reviews Prins' earlier collection, Tochten, favourably.

4 Sötemann 1998. This is essentially a biography written to draw attention to the fact that it was fifty years since Prins had died. Previously, Rob Nieuwenhuys included a discussion of Prins' poetry in the chapter ‘Het Nederlandse Indië’ in Oost-Indische Spiegel in 1972. Other critical material discussing Prins' poetry dates back to the early twentieth century (see Rispens, Verwey and Donker).

5 Nieuwenhuys 1949, p. 3.

I Prim and his poetry

Jan Prins was born in Rotterdam on 5 February 1876 and trained as a naval officer. He entered the naval service in 1896 and remained in active service until 1924 when he was retired due to ill-health. He died on 9 February 1948 in Naarden.⁶ His poems were first published in

6 There would appear to be some confusion about this date. Sötemann's article states that Prins died on 9 February while his obituary notice in Oriëntatie (maart 1948) states that he died on 10 February. In a second article in Oriëntatie (mei 1949) Nieuwenhuys states (wrongly) that Prins died in 1947.

[p. 172]

1903 in De XXe eeuwand after 1905 he contributed some verses to De Beweging. His early poetry depicted the Dutch landscape, but after his travels in the Indies, this became the main focus of his work. As a poet, Prins belongs to the generation of P.C. Boutens (1870-1943), a life-long friend, and Adama van Scheltema (1877-1924).

In total, six volumes of his poetry were published.⁷ The anthology Indische gedichten (Poems of the Dutch East Indies) was published in 1932 as part of a literary exhibition in the Hague (‘Nederlandsch-Indië in de Letterkunde’). However, the majority of these poems had been published previously. In total, Prins wrote over forty poems inspired by the Indies, of which twenty-three are contained in the Indische gedichten. After his retirement, Prins studied Greek and became better known as a translator. During this time, he wrote little further poetry; the short volume Later werk (Later works) was published in 1941. In 1947 his entire literary output was collated and published.

In his capacity as a naval officer, Prins travelled widely in the Dutch East Indies and found ‘een bron van inspiratie’ from his surroundings.⁸ The impression created on the mind by the environment, both urban and natural, was the ethos of his poetry. In general, the common major themes for poets inspired by the colonies were those of ‘natuur, liefde, heimwee, en melancholie, de alledaagse werkelijkheid en de confrontatie tussen Oost en West’; Prins concentrates on the portrayal of nature and landscape, especially the sea, which was a constant source of inspiration and fascination in his poetry.⁹ A more well-known example than ‘Het Meer’ (pp. 68-73) in the Indische gedichten, is his poem ‘Zwarte hoofden’ (commonly found in anthologies of modern Dutch poetry), which was inspired by the seas around the Netherlands.¹⁰ It is interesting to note that his poetry inspired by the Indies is rarely seen in anthologies published after 1960; his profile declined very soon after his death.¹¹ However, these are general anthologies of Dutch poetry. Prins' work is contained in two recent anthologies of Dutch colonial literature by Joop van den Berg (1984) and Peter van Zonneveld (1999).¹²

The received critical opinion (seen in the works of Nieuwenhuys and Sötemann) of Prins' poetry concentrates on the lack of variety of form and metre in his poetry, although it also praises his use of allegory and the subject matter. Often, the metre is referred to as ‘plastic’ which implies that his poetry is, therefore, of less stature and less interesting. I disagree with this opinion, as does Rispens,

Te weinig geeft men er zich rekenschap van, dat hij de maker is van die bijzondere gedichten De Stad, De Brug, Het Geurige Veld [...] die zeldzame hoogtepunten zijn in zijn werk, omdat de dichter ook alleen in zeldzame oogenblikken tot de diepste concentratie bij machte is, waarin zulke gedichten ontstaan.¹³

7 Tochten (1911), Getijden (1917), Verschijningen (1924), Indische gedichten (1932), Later werk (1941), Bijeengebrachte gedichten (1947).

8 Prins' obituary notice. In: Oriëntatie, maart 1948, Nr. 6, p. 3.

9 Van Zonneveld 1995, p. 50.

10 For example, see Garmt Stuiveling. Dichters van Vroeger. Amsterdam, 1977.

11 See Sötemann 1998, p. 185.

12 Joop van den Berg (samengesteld door). Indië-Indonesië in honderd gedichten. 's-Gravenhage: Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1984 and Peter van Zonneveld (samengesteld door). Indisch landschap. Dichters en schrijvers over Indonesië. Alphen aan den Rijn, 1999.

13 Rispens 1938, p. 287.

[p. 173]

The fact that his poetry is often almost artificially structured and the rhyme scheme is easy to predict, does not detract from the overall effect and atmosphere of the poems. In fact, his style is praised by Knuvelder:

In zijn werk [...] overheerst een openheid en frisheid, een vreugde aan het leven en een innige genegenheid voor de verschijningsvorm daarvan, die sterk afsteken tegen het sombere, tragische, gekwelde, en gefolterde, dat de meeste van zijn tijdgenoten kenmerkt.¹⁴

While the form and content are equally important, Prins' significance as a poet lies in his treatment of the Dutch East Indies; proving his love for the landscape he makes it the focus of his poetry.

The anthology Indische gedichten never captured the popular imagination, seemingly because there was less interest in reading about poetry inspired by and taking its main subject of a foreign environment. Unlike his other anthologies, Indische gedichten was never reprinted. However, in the period when these poems were written and published (between 1907 and 1932) there was widespread interest in novels inspired by or set in the Indies. It is true that these novels offered a gossipy insight into the nature of Dutch society in the East Indies which appears to have been far more popular than Prins' calm and restful poetry which depicted the natural beauty of the Indies. His work also revealed that the power of nature was far stronger than that of the coloniser, a fact which may have caused his poetry to be less publicly successful than it was critically.

Unlike the fashionable novels of this period, his poems do not introduce the reader to the society of the Indies, but to the natural milieu with the idea of its secrets and enigmas as recurring themes. The poems themselves are characterised by a clarity of expression and imagery; Prins concentrates on his surroundings and the impression which this makes upon the mind. The poet exhibits a number of Imagist traits in his poetry: he writes accurately, as he saw the landscape without either excess verbosity or didacticism. Therefore, the poems show the modernist tendency to lie between experimentation and tradition. While the poet adheres to the traditional and classical structure, the treatment of the subject is more modern as Prins follows some traits of the new impressionist style. He is, therefore, particularly preoccupied with sensory perception having also been influenced by Gezelle.¹⁵ The poet met Gorter when he was twenty and

vond in Gorter dezelfde gevoeligheid voor zintuiglijke indrukken, een geluksgevoel om aardse schoonheid, een stroom van beelden en vergelijkingen, gedragen door een vaste, doorlopende prosodie, een soort epische vorm voor wat in wezen natuurlyriek was.¹⁶

14 G.P.M. Knuvelder 1976, p. 594.

15 Rob Nieuwenhuys 1975, p. 138.

16 Rob Nieuwenhuys 1975, p. 138.

[p. 174]

His poetry also has some structural traits similar to those of P.C. Boutens, who (like Prins) wrote in a traditional form using traditional syntax which was almost mathematically precise.

II The natural world

Prins has always taken elements from the natural world as the inspiration for his poetry, making a ‘zuivere dichterkunst’.¹⁷ It is the environment of the Indies, both rural and urban, which causes the poet to reveal his enthusiasm and love for the dominant features of the landscape: the sea, lush vegetation, volcanoes and the cities. The majority of these poems are anecdotal in nature where Prins is the onlooker, not judging the world around him, but simply and carefully reproducing it, including its smells and sounds.

In both long narrative poems ‘Bali’ (pp. 52-61) and ‘Het Indische land’ (pp. 7-14), Prins pays close attention to the mystery of the Indies and to the natural beauty which surrounds him. It is immediately apparent that he is a great observer of natural beauty and truly loves the country in which he works:

Daarachter staat de bosrand en daarachter,
over de velden heen waar mensen wonen,
tegen de bergen waar de goden tronen (‘Bali’, p. 52)

He appears to think of the Indies as an Elysium, elevating its appearance to a heaven on earth which God approves of:

Geen wonder, dat hij dikwijls aan zijn lust
de teugel viert, en op de bergen rust,
en hoog boven zijn uitgestrekt gebied
de weelde van zijn koningschap geniet (p. 54)

In other parts of this collection, elements of Western religious worship are used to create a more familiar imagery. ‘Het Zangspel’ (pp. 41-42) uses the ‘[...] vlagen / van offergeuren en van altarrook’ to show the movement ‘der gewijde sprook’ (p. 41) between the people.

It is interesting to note that while Prins remarks on the number of races and religions living beside each other in the towns (Chinese, Arabs and Javanese), he then compares the movements of the women walking in the town to be reminiscent of Bible stories (‘De Stad’, pp. 22-23) when only the poet is of the Christian faith. Therefore, it can hardly be said to be an accurate representation of life in the towns. However, Prins is a newcomer to the Indies and is probably simply attempting to define situations in familiar terms for himself and his readers.

The Indische gedichten are defined as a whole by the narrative perspective. Prins, as the narrator, remains the outsider, revealing the unusual

17 G.P.M. Knuvelder 1976, p. 594.

[p. 175]

landscape to his audience but only once, in ‘Zooals gij in de schaduw zat’ does the poet reveal his personal feelings rather than abstract, allembracing love for the surroundings and wonder at the spirits which he can sense. The natural world is portrayed in a series of images, almost a stream of consciousness as the poet allows his thoughts to run to a natural conclusion. It is therefore, far more than a simple stream of images, but a ‘dans der woorden’.¹⁸ Another theme is the unusual use of time: ‘het verleden’ (‘Batavia’, p. 43) remains above the town while the events in the present continue. This suggests the importance and influence of the past on the present, a possible hint of future unrest caused by the brusque attitude of many colonists.

Light and darkness are used to depict the lushness of the environment; Prins avoids openly naming colours, such as green, immediately. Instead, he prefers to create his images and atmosphere using a series of images describing the denseness of the forest:

Prachtig en donker hangen in de bossen
de takken af en de dichte lovertrossen,
grazige verten dekkend, waar het licht
vanuit de ruimte voor de schermer zwicht.
Belommerd voeren de onontgonnen lanen,
onder de bochten door van de lianen,
als open poorten onder licht festoen
een dwaalhof binnen van diep glanzend groen
(‘Bali’, p. 56, lines 117-124)

Such contrast between the light (clarity) and the darkness (confusion) appears to summarise the relationship of the coloniser with the East as seen in Dutch colonial literature from Couperus to Haasse. The light cannot easily break through the ‘dichte lovertrossen’. The image of the ‘diep glanzend groen’ indicates that this is the most valuable commodity of the island, not the spices or the workers, a polished object to be treasured. In the half-light of the forest, the poet's perception of his surroundings is distorted, in ‘De Wagen’ (pp. 26-28) and ‘Het Indische Land’:

En over de als verzuiverde natuur
is de betoovering gezonken van het uur,
waarin de dag in donkerte ondergaat,
alles vreemder ons voor oogen staat
dan anders. Want zooals men in den geest
iets wel eens niet hervindt, zoo 't is geweest, -
het is hetzelfde wel, maar ook weer ziet [sic], -
zoo is 't hier in de schemering, als ziet
men alles om zich in een ander licht (p. 13)¹⁹

18 Rob Nieuwenhuys 1975, p. 138.

19 ‘Ziet’ is a printing error for ‘niet’.

[p. 176]

However, the atmosphere is heavy, almost stiflingly intense as the scent of the Spice Islands pervades the atmosphere,

Van zon verzadigd en van geuren zwaar,
ligt in de zeeën van de evenaar
het Land van Indië, als een rijk van rust
en ademlooze stilte (‘Het Indische Land’, p. 7)

Combined with the power of the sun, the tone of the poem becomes almost oppressive, until the poet has climbed to the summit of the volcano and is no longer surrounded by the dense forest. In contrast to the surrounding, perhaps intoxicating atmosphere, the colony itself is seen as peaceful and quiet as if it too has been lulled by the heady combination of the scent of the spices and the burning sun. It would appear that previous political unrest is no longer a threat as the quietness is dominant ‘[...] Geen geluid / ontroert ons, zooals deze stilte doet’ (‘Het Indische Land’, p. 7). The mood created is peaceful, all the natural elements are harmonised, even the sun cannot burn here, as it does less sheltered parts of the island:

de gordijnen,
die schaduwen en lichte schemer delen,
en die zonnevlagen zacht doorschijnen (‘Bali’, p. 56)

Elsewhere ‘schatert en schittert en davert de zon’ (‘Soerabaja’, p. 32) showing the strength of the atmosphere.

From the opening four lines in the first poem in the anthology onwards, the immense scale of the Indies is introduced. ‘Bali’ and ‘Het Indische Land’ describe a journey through the land, climbing from the beaches to the heights of the forests and volcanoes. ‘De Vulkanen’ in particular, shows the vastness of the volcanoes and reveals two contrasting sides of the East (the welcoming and the frightening) in relation to the sea, which was of particular importance to him:

Als donkere onverganklijkheden
van stilte, als werelden van rouw
tusschen het uitgestrekte blauw
des hemels en het land beneden,
als onweerstaanbaren, die tot
het eeuwige zich intocht banen
vanuit het schamele aardsche lot,
staan boven Java de vulkanen (p. 38)

Als eeuwige ontoeganklijkheden
van stilte, als werelden van rouw
tusschen het onmeedoogend blauw
des hemels en het land beneden,
met hun omhoog gestoken vanen

[p. 177]

 

van damp, in statig evenwicht

 

langzaam uitrollend in het licht,

 

staan boven Java de vulkanen (p. 40)

Even the smell of the ‘stekelige lucht van zwavel’ (‘Het Indische Land’, p. 13) is included, a reminder that perfection does not exist, even amongst so much beauty. But, because the smell of sulphur has connotations with Hell, it may also be a reminder of the ‘Verdelger’ (‘Bali’, p. 53) where there are stronger forces than mankind at work.

The reader sees the power of the natural world; the colonisers may have subjugated a population but the natural world remains dominant: ‘Om den rand van het dak strengelen zich lianen’ (‘Batavia’, p. 45). The natural world is encroaching on the populated areas as far as the old houses which are now unoccupied, taking them over. This image of a powerful, all-conquering nature serves to illustrate further the poet's view that human life is transitory when compared with the might of nature. The reminders of decay and the decline of an Empire can be seen in the poems ‘Het Lustverblijf’ (pp. 20-21) and ‘Bali’ also. The might of nature and human mortality is combined in ‘Het Indische Land’ when man is surrounded by lush vegetation and is then afraid, when he realises that death surrounds him constantly:

Hier is de streek, die al wat ademt schuwt,
der eeuwige verlorenheid, en van
de vrees, die men niet van zich weren kan,
en die zich sterker toont dan onze wil.
Maar hier is de wereld van het stil
in zich gekeerd zijn, om te zien hoe goed
en eigen ons het leven is, en hoe 't
ons innig in zich houdt, - maar ook hoe groot
en rustig de gestalte is van de dood,
en hoe verheven de eenzaamheid, die wacht (p. 13)

The poem ‘Zooals gij in de schaduw zat’ reveals the poet's admiration for two native girls. There is interesting use of juxtaposition in this poem: the girls are ‘[...] zoo schoon / als koningsdochters op een troon, / gij beiden, op uw strooien mat’ (p. 67). Rich in beauty with long flowing hair, which has caught the attention of the poet, this is possibly his most personal poem in the anthology and in my opinion, it is one of the best. Its images of physical beauty and cloud-like hair in the shadows are well-written and moving.

III The symbolic world

While the notion of the East as an enigmatic force has constantly inspired poets and writers (most notably Louis Couperus), Prins also explores

[p. 178]

the effect of the East on the European mind and soul. According to his poetry, simply living in Java will change a person, adding something unknown, yet significant:

Het is, alsof er iets in ons gemoed
zich opent, en alsof het iets ontvangt
waarom wij, lijkt het ons, hadden verlangd
zonder dat wij het wisten, - of een schijn
van het voor altijd onverklaarde zijn
over ons valt, - alsof zich voor ons oog
iets van het nooit ontslotene openboog (‘Het Indische Land’, p. 7)

This change arrives silently and mysteriously, suggesting primeval forces within the natural world and in man are at work:

[...] Want wat
ons zo binnen zijn tover houdt gevat,
dat is het Oosten, en het Oosten is
van ouds het land wel van geheimenis,
maar ook van klaarheid door een enkel woord,
door een enkel gebaar. Wat ons bekoort
hier, is wat ieder onzer ondervindt
als hij terugkeert, waar hij eenmaal
kind was, en het leven een bestendig feest.
In het Oosten is de mensheid kind geweest,
en nu zij groot is en bewuster, komt
zij tot dit land terug, eerbiedig, om 't
nog eens te zien, en tot haar aangezicht
te heffen dat, wat het diepste in haar ligt (‘Het Indische Land’, p. 8)

In this passage living in the Indies would appear to be a regressive and liminal experience for the human soul since long-latent senses have been awakened in this strange new world.

The knowledge that hidden forces exist in the natural world manifests itself in Prins' poetry. However, the relationship between ‘the Other’ and the physical world of sensory perception is blurred, as these forces cannot be seen:

[...] overal
is iets, wat men zo licht vinden zal
in vreemde landen. En wie dat bemint,
die heeft zijn land gekend. Voor hem begint
een ander leven, want van uur tot uur
aandachtig, gaat hij voortaan de natuur
verwonderd na (‘Bali’, p. 61)

Here, Prins attempts to relate what he knew of this ‘otherness’ (its strength and effect on man) to the world around him.

[p. 179]

In ‘Bali’ and ‘Het Indische Land’, Prins guides the reader through the island, beginning with the sea before travelling along the coast, then inland, ever higher until the summits of the volcanoes are reached. The tour of the amazing natural beauty is ended by the fall of darkness. As the reader ‘travels’, the world of the senses is assailed but the world of spiritual understanding also travels alongside. This is a theme which also recurs in ‘Het Meer’ (pp. 68-73) where the fall of darkness causes the poet confusion and he begins to question the limits of his understanding:

Hoe komt het, dat er uren zijn waarin,
over 't verdonkerd heden uitgestort,
van een bekend verleden 't nieuw begin
zinkt in de ziel waarin het avond wordt
en de gedachte wederkomt in mij
aan dagen en aan dingen, lang voorbij? (p. 70)

Clarity returns with the dawn, suggesting that the Westerner cannot understand a shadowy environment, like the Indies, completely.

Recurring leitmotifs in his poetry include the natural beauty of the enigmatic East which never reveals its true self to the outsider, but the outsider does find that ‘Uw ogen op die schoonheid zijn geloken’ (‘Bali’, p. 61), only to receive a limited understanding of the true East. This theme is most clearly revealed in the sonnet ‘De Nacht’ (p. 51):

Wij zoeken, zoeken te verstaan, - en weten
alleen de blinde wijsheid van het lot
rondom ons, - en rondom ons de natuur.

This sonnet illustrates the scale of the natural world and the limits of man's knowledge and ability to comprehend the world around him.

According to Prins, the East becomes a part of man. In this collection, there is greater emphasis on the effect of the East on the European psyche:

Gij hebt allen dat hoog geheim bezeten
waarvoor het leven zelf in nevel wijkt (‘Bali’, p. 61)

Another impression gained from reading this anthology is the importance of religion and spirituality in Prins' life:

Zooals de hemel in den sawah-plas,
binnen den smallen kronkeldijk besloten,
ligt deze rust nu in uw ziel gespiegeld (‘De Spiegel’, p. 50)

The mystery of the Indies has greatly affected Prins, being one of the first poets to take his inspiration from the natural landscape and interest in spriritual phenomena, not to explain or define them, but simply to state that they existed in the context of Western religious belief.

[p. 180]

The population play a background role in the poems, there is no narrative discussing the lives of the individuals; the reader only sees a stream of images, like the poet, remaining on the edge of the environment looking all around him. It is always the land that is the first to be depicted, repeated mention is made of the ‘stilte’ suggesting that humankind has minimal influence on this land. Writing from this perspective is extremely unusual; the colonisers controlled the majority of the archipelago, yet the role of humanity is minimal. The indigenous population is usually described as a small, almost peripheral, part of the overall landscape; women are walking in the bazaar in sarongs (‘Bali’ and ‘De Stad’). Only in ‘Zooals gij in de schaduw zat’ does the native Javanese become the focus of the poem.

I feel that the indigenous population has a far greater symbolic importance: ‘De Treurboom’ (pp. 64-65), a type of weeping willow, but the title can also be translated as ‘The Grieving Tree’, which can be seen to symbolise the East Indies itself: it is a valuable commodity as it produces spices and its leaves are the ‘dunne munten’ which are taken by the Dutch merchants. Despite the exploitation, the tree is flourishing, a ‘wonderboom’ with deep roots and ‘het diepe duister van zijn diepen ouderdom’ a part of the culture which is not revealed to the coloniser who is only motivated by financial gain. The coloniser (and the focus of Imperial power) can be seen to be represented by the sun and the sky which surrounds it, ‘omhoog, de schoone kroon, gestegen / in 't ongeschonden blauw’. The tree is, therefore, conquered, simply earning money for the colonisers including Prins whose role in the navy protected and upheld trading links with the Netherlands.

At first, the poem ‘Het Geurige Veld’ (pp. 62-63) does not appear to fit in with the rest of the anthology as it takes the form of a ballad (the only time the poet has used this structure in this anthology). Neither the natural world nor the spiritual world is used as the main theme. Prins has retold a famous Javanese legend (that of Amangkoe Rat and his final battle) in a very different style to his other poems. It is far more impersonal; the poet has not added his own thoughts or any comparison with the present. However, I feel that this provides a good contrast to the longer narrative poems and sonnets in which Prins was inspired by the environment. This poem, considered by some critics to be his masterpiece, includes Prins' interest in the literary culture of the Indies.²⁰

In Indische gedichten, the poet articulates his love for the natural and symbolic aspects of the Indies. He had aimed to awaken the senses of his readers to the beauty of the natural milieu and the effect of the Indies on the mind which had inspired him. During his lifetime and for a short time afterwards, Prins' work was popular and well-regarded, but since then, his vivid impressions of the landscape are almost for-

20 See Sötemann 1998, p. 191.

[p. 181]

gotten. Sadly, in the fifty years since his death, recognition of his work has declined, in great contrast to the opinions of his contemporaries. As early as 1949, Anthonie Donker wrote: ‘Zijn werk verdient meer critiek waar het het hoogst wordt geprezen, het verdient meer lof waar het het minst bekend is’; Prins still remains (rather unjustly) relatively unknown and his poetry is dismissed as being too artificial.²¹ However, after reading this anthology, the reader is left with the impression that his poems are beautiful interpretations of the landscape and a feeling of ‘rustige bewogenheid’.²² Finally, the beauty and freshness of these images with ‘een koele stroom van sprankelende klanken’ (‘Het Dansfeest’, pp. 46-47) in the choice of words deflect the attention of the reader from his somewhat static metre. I agree with Nieuwenhuys, that Prins' poetry, especially in the poems ‘Het Indische Land’ and ‘De Nacht’ is ‘liefelijk, eenvoudig en sierlijk’ in the way that impression and allegory interrelate.²³

Lisa Migo studeert Nederlands aan de University of Hull. Deze bijdrage over de poëzie van Jan Prins is een bewerking van een scriptie die zij daar schreef. Afgelopen jaar verbleef zij in het kader van het Erasmus-project enige tijd in Leiden, waar zij onderzoek deed naar de poëzie van Willem Brandt.

21 Donker 1949, p. 445.

22 Rispens 1938, p. 335.

23 Nieuwenhuys 1949, p. 3.

[p. 182]

Literature

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Anthonie Donker. ‘Défilé der generaties II’. In: Critisch Bulletin 1949, Nr. 16, pp. 438-450.

Peter Jones (ed.). Imagist Poetry. London 1972.

G.P.M. Knuvelder. Handboek tot de geschiedenis der Nederlandse letterkunde. Deel IV. Den Bosch 1976.

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