Abstract
It is characteristic of this famous poetess that she abhors evangelical poetry. She considers this kind of poetry often to be of poor quality, especially in the light of its explicit purpose to evangelize and convert readers to Christianity, h could be argued that the Dutch poetess Nel Benschop, of whom tens of thousands volumes of poetry are sold, writes such poetry. Despite her abhorrence of evangelical poetry, Gerhardt cannot summarily be regarded as an atheist artist. On the contrary, she may even be called a Christian poetess, but not in the dogmatic sense of the word. The impact of her work transcends the boundaries of Christianity. She often uses Christianity as a frame of reference along with Greek and Latin Classical references to give her poetry universality. To illustrate this I would like to compare her Easter poem (Pasen) with some Easter poems of minor poets like Nel Benschop and l.L de Villiers. An analysis of the Easter poems shows that Gerhardt’s Easter poem obviously has a Christian framework but its implications are far wider.
Highlights
Despite her abhorrence o f evangelical poetry, Gerhardt cannot summarily be regarded as an atheist artist
Ii is characteristic o f this fa m o u s poetess that she abhors evangelical poetry. She considers this kind o f poetry often to be o f poor quality, especially in the light o f its explicit purpose to evangelize and convert readers to Christianity, h could be argued that the Dutch poetess Nel Benschop, of whom tens o f thousands volumes o f poetry are sold, writes such poetry
W aar die Christelik-godsdienstige kunstenaar G oddelik of Bybels geïnspireer is en wil getuig van ’n A bsolute W aarheid, het religie te doen met, soos in H olst se geval, self geprojekteerde wêrelde anderkant die aardse bedeling van ruimte en tyd
Summary
Ida G erhardt (geb. 1905), ’n leerling van J.H. Leopold en ’n Klassikus soos hy, het in 1940 g ed eb u te er m et ’n bundel poësie, getitel Kosmos. ’n V erskeidenheid literêre pryse, onder an d ere die belangrike P.C. Evangelie en religie in die poësie waarsku teen ’n oorvereenvoudigde siening van die religieuse stof in haar poësie: "Ze willen me wel eens rangschikken onder de Protestantse dichters: dat m aakt me razend." (G erhardt, 1980:30.) Sy bedoel waarskynlik daarm ee dat sy wel Skrifgegewens gebruik, maar dat dié gegewens nie noodwendig met ’n evangeliese oogmerk gehanteer word nie. Dit is ’n elisium wat ooreenkom ste mag vertoon met die Christendom en die Evangelie, maar hoegenaam d nie C hristelik/godsdienstig of evangeliserend is nie. W aar die Christelik-godsdienstige kunstenaar G oddelik of Bybels geïnspireer is en wil getuig van ’n A bsolute W aarheid, het religie te doen met, soos in H olst se geval, self geprojekteerde wêrelde anderkant die aardse bedeling van ruimte en tyd
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