De Nieuwe Gids. Jaargang 53

[p. 497]

[De Nieuwe Gids. Jaargang 53. Deel 6]

Willem Kloos: An English tribute door Dr. J.A. Russell.

Low to th' horizon drooped the golden path

Of planetary poets, Vondel, Hooft,

When lo! the star of Perk, in upper luft,

Rose, hovered, sank... Oh, glorious aftermath!
Soared, from that flash, fresh light in verse and prose,

That guided as it streaked the darkened sky,

Shaping itself in beauteous symmetry -

The meteoric, magic fire of Kloos.

‘He wept for Adonais’, yet, still lief

To snatch from death the victory of youth,

Fought his own raging self with conquering truth,

Rose like a Shelley with a new belief:

Henceforth he loved our English lyric-beats -

His place is now with Cowper and with Keats.