A Small Epic Poem

Gorter, Herman, 1864-1927Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 66K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Een klein heldendicht by Herman GorterAuthor: Gorter, Herman, 1864-1927,Language: Dutch, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Oct 8, 2005

Editor's review

This work is a short narrative poem published in the early twentieth century by the Dutch poet Herman Gorter. Though brief, it embodies the author's self-conscious exploration of poetic language and form. Gorter is a major figure in modern Dutch poetry, having shaken the literary world with a long poem; this book, titled "a small heroic poem," has a narrative skeleton yet is full of lyricism and philosophical reflection, allowing readers to sense the tension between tradition and modernity in early twentieth-century Continental poetry. As a public-domain e-book, its value lies not only in the text itself but in giving Chinese readers low-cost access to a distinctive sample of Dutch-language literature. It may be read as a small linguistic ramble: one need not seek a complete plot but may attend to the rhythm, imagery and emotional turns in the lines. For readers studying Dutch literature, comparative poetics or interested in Low Countries culture, it is a short work worth close reading; general readers may also dip into a few passages on a quiet afternoon to appreciate the phonetic beauty of poetry in another language.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Dutch literature and modern European poetry
Readers who wish to understand Gorter's poetic style through a short work
Scholars of comparative literature and translation, who may use it as a textual sample
Literary lovers who enjoy lyric narrative poetry and are willing to read slowly

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete novelistic plot
Readers unaccustomed to poetry and its discontinuous expression
Beginners who need Chinese annotations or a guide to read the original

Reading tips

Read through the whole poem first to grasp the emotional arc, then return to passages dense with imagery for close reading.
Read a few lines aloud against the Dutch original to feel the rhythm and sound, without translating word by word.
Jot down recurring images as you read and observe how the poet brings the whole to a close.
If time is limited, read it in two or three sittings, each time focusing on one stanza or one theme.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Do I need to know Dutch to read this book?

The original is in Dutch. Without Dutch you can still grasp the general meaning through a translation or auxiliary tools, but to appreciate the sound and rhythm it is best to read aloud against the original. Reading only a Chinese paraphrase would lose much of the poetry's character; it is better treated as a dual experience of language and literature.

Is this work suitable as an introduction to Gorter's poetry?

It is short and relatively concentrated in structure, making it a suitable starting point for understanding Gorter's poetic language. However, it is not his most famous long work; to understand Gorter systematically, one may read this small poem first and then extend to his representative long poems, following a path from short to long.

Why recommend reading the public-domain e-book edition?

Public-domain e-books are easy to obtain and low in cost, allowing readers quick access to original Dutch-language literature. The Project Gutenberg edition preserves the basic textual information of the work and is suitable for personal reading and research citation, though readers should still note differences in edition and typesetting.

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About the author

Gorter, Herman, 1864-1927 Author · Dutch · 1864–1927

Herman Gorter (1864–1927) was a Dutch poet and socialist, best known for his long poem May. Born in the Netherlands, he lived from the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth, pursuing literary creation alongside political activity. May unfolds as a long poem and holds an important place in Dutch literary history, while the library also holds his work Een klein heldendicht, showing his sustained attention to combining narrative and lyric form. Gorter's writing style brings together sensibility and social concern, making him a figure not to be overlooked in Dutch modern poetry and socialist literary currents. Public information on his specific biography, education, and posts is limited, and this note makes no conjecture; readers should approach his poetics and intellectual trajectory through the works themselves. Although the library holds only one of his works, it is enough to convey his identity as a poet and the spirit of his time.