how poetry sounds in dutch (en/nl sub)

For those who ever wondered how our poetry sounds like :)
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[@TheArtisanGeek]

Willem Frederik Hermans is one of my favourite authors and so I wanted to share some of his work with you. Here's my rough summary of the poem: It's about a boy who is seeing how the people around him are gossiping about his family. During the poem he is following his mother as she cries and walks through their town trying to get to their destination. They end up at an old graveyard -- the poem implies they are there to visit the grave of the boy's sister, but he knows that the grave is empty and that his sister's body is out there somewhere decaying. So the reason for the gossip is the tragedy surrounding his sister's death. Edit: I added a rough English translation, so that you can follow along. I'm not a translator, so it's definitely not as refined as the original, but it's enough to give you the gist of the poem. :)

[@jasmijnverhoef9225]

Willem Frederik Hermans' poetry is soo beautiful! It was his poetry that got me to read more poetry :)

[@TheArtisanGeek]

@@jasmijnverhoef9225 Oh that's so cool!! It was his novel Nooit Meer Slapen, dat really got me into Dutch literature in general -- such a great author!!

[@quirkyblackenby]

Thanks for the summary! English subtitles don’t help me if the audio also isn’t in English. The summary helped a lot though.

[@HelenaKoonings]

I'd never heard this poem before! The last line gave me chills... What's your favourite book by Hermans? I've read De Donkere Kamer van Damokles and Au Pair, planning on Nooit Meer Slapen soon.

[@Verticaldiscourse]

@@HelenaKoonings Inderdaad, een ontroerende regel... Die laatste regel verwijst natuurlijk naar de dood van zijn zuster, die in mei 1940 overleed.

[@MonicaSilva-rh7lm]

I have no idea what you’re saying but I love the sound of it

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Hahah thank you very much!! :D

[@BookChats]

There are English captions if that helps!

[@agl8689]

This is so interesting...I speak German and so my brain hears more than sounds, it is trying to understand- can feel my neurones lighting up at parts and then...no understanding.

[@gurkenbrotreligion9439]

Same 😂😂 ein paar Wörter sind ähnlich wie bei uns ...

[@andrew_owens7680]

I recently received my B1 Goethe exam and since have gotten interested in Dutch. I went intensive on Dutch pronunciation and still do and that has helped a lot. Many words are understandable if you can grasp the spelling morphology.

[@Lathnes]

Thank you for reading this. I have been trying to find spoken poetry in Dutch for a while ❤

[@jordylont1879]

Your voice is so beautiful. Hearing you in Dutch confirmed that for me. Thank you!

[@TheArtisanGeek]

That's so kind of you to say! Thank you very much!! :D

[@cosyreadingtimes8857]

Interesting how much I understood just based on my German and English knowledge (I'm from Germany). I love the sound + your voice is very beautiful 💕

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Oh that's so cool! I sometimes forget how similar it all sounds haha :) Thank you so very much!! :D

[@friederikevalentina834]

Couldn’t agree more. Thank you Seji for your beautiful recital. I’m also a German studying History and Dutch Philology at uni and I was surprised that I understood the poem without subtitles. Seems like my uni courses are working 😄

[@nr.7224]

as someone learning german, my brain kept going “you know what this means! you do!” even though I really didn’t... it was so nice to listen to though, dutch is so pretty and your voice is too!!

[@Clubsandwichchav]

I speak dutch and im still not sure what it's about.

[@TheArtisanGeek]

It's about a boy who is seeing how the people around him are gossiping about his family. During the poem he is following his mother as she cries and walks through their town trying to get to their destination. They end up at an old graveyard -- the poem implies they are there to visit the grave of the boy's sister, but he knows that the grave is empty and that his sister's body is out there somewhere decaying. So the reason for the gossip is the tragedy surrounding his sister's death.

[@ostrichreads7715]

Why does my mind dirst go to how much asmr potential this has 🙈 I love hearing you speak Dutch ☺️

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Lol, who would have thought that Dutch, the language frequently described has sounding like someone's choking, had ASMR potential 😂

[@ostrichreads7715]

@@TheArtisanGeek hmm maybe choking is my yet to be discovered asmr kink? 🤔😅 But maybe it also just sounds less weird or whatever to me bc i'm German 🙃

[@hans-sniekers-art]

I never knew you were dutch, this is so cool! You make the poetry sound so beautiful and the cadence is just so beautiful

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Yeah my accent in English only slightly gives it away XD Thank you so much for your kind words! :D

[@manlikeme5475]

@@TheArtisanGeek bruh I thought u were australian😅😅

[@aussieevonne7857]

​@@TheArtisanGeek Yup, I also had no idea you were Dutch. I am Australian but have lived in NL for 26 years. Still, I didn't notice your accent in English. Loved the poem. Thanks. I will read more of W.F. Hermans.

[@kitbracadabra]

@@TheArtisanGeek I thought you were english omg

[@akiko3337]

I love the sound of Dutch, I would love to learn the language someday!

[@HyeJinStarlight]

zo lang geleden dat ik nog nederlands gehoord heb!!! best mooilijk!

[@AlwaysTheStoryCollector]

Ik ben al een tijdje KZbin aan het kijken naar mensen die Engels praten en was vergeten dat dit eraan zat te komen. De eerste paar zinnen was ik echt even in de war 😅. Grappig dat ik weinig fictie in het Nederlands lees maar poëzie een stuk meer. Dit terwijl ik altijd zeg dat ik poëzie niet snap. Leuk gedaan! 💛

[@willhulme2464]

I feel like this is going to go viral

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Lol would seem like a real YT move, letting it be this video from my channel XD

[@WithLoveFeli]

Het is zo vreemd om je in het Nederlands te horen omdat je normaal zo veel Engels praat! Maar dit was een leuke afwisseling :) Supermooi gesproken

[@fayed9540]

Je regenboog shirt is mooi!! 😍

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Aah dankjewel!! :D

[@lyrasumuverta5955]

Haha ich kann dich verstehen 💜 Viele Grüße aus Deutschland 💕👍

[@yoniecopeland5950]

Beautifully done. I was born in Holland, and grew up hearing Dutch and answering in English. It was nice to hear the clear enunciation. Thank you. Well done.

[@TheArtisanGeek]

My absolute pleasure! :D

[@cuttie24you]

Omg are you Dutch?!?! Me too! It was so refreshing to find you & your channel. Ik vond het gedicht en dictie echt prachtig. Ik ben zo blij dat ik een Nederlandse donkere vrouw heb gevonden wie een verfrissende rolmodel is voor donkere meisjes! Okay mini rant over. Please just keep doing you and sharing your journey with us!

[@user-ge2es2bp2x]

wow that was beautiful, I've never heard any dutch poetry before, thank you !

[@saragh3900]

You're just so articulate. I mean I don't understand dutch but based on yout videos and the way you talk, you seem like a lovely wise person.

[@nataleme]

Dutch sounds to me like a mix of german and simlish (The Sims game fictional language) lol

[@zainabelmadhoni6856]

I don’t understand anything but it calms me somehow

[@Verticaldiscourse]

Mooi! Ik vroeg mij eigenlijk af: 'zou Seji het werk van WF Hermans kennen'? Ja dus! Voor mij vormt zijn oeuvre een eenzaam hoogtepunt in de Nederlandse literatuur: intelligent, veelzijdig, verrassend.

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Ja helemaal mee eens! Ik had zijn boek Nooit Meer Slapen gelezen op de middelbare en was meteen verkocht :)

[@lisa3965]

ohhhh, this was beautiful 🥺 I love poetry, so I'd definitely be up for more videos like this one! as a native German speaker, it's always fascinating how similar some Dutch words are and how familiar the language ~feels~ I hope you're well! 💓 I really enjoy your videos, thank you for making and sharing them

[@marykerrigan6462]

Heel leuk !! Dankjewel voor de recomendatie. Vind het zo mooi poëzie om te horen. Na dit ga ik de gedicht leren!

[@blue-xt3wi]

im dutch but I don’t speak much of it bc i never lived there. it’s so interesting hearing it in this context because I’ve only ever heard it from my family casually. also your voice is so beautiful!!

[@juliette_lummm]

Sounds amazing.

[@fanofnormalclips]

Omg that was so tragic. I was thinking, while I was listening to the poem, how beautiful it was, but then I heard that last sentence. Wow, so powerful

[@batorsagandszerelem4474]

Beautiful

[@MrBobbyANDCookie]

You read this so beautifully, I would love to hear more readings from you :)

[@espurrlady3397]

That was so cool!! I loved hearing the Dutch. I did not know what you were saying without the subtitles, but I did not care because I loved the sound of it. The H sound caught my attention especially. So cool!

[@doriendespiegeleer5752]

Ik think you mean the G sound ;). I agree it's beautiful!

[@Fenyll_Fur]

I just found your channel, like many people, through your Japanese vlog, and what a coincidence that I find this video right after! I myself took Dutch for about 6 months and am currently studying Japanese.

[@meepitydoodle]

Ooohh it's beautiful :)) I've been wanting to learn Dutch for a while now but I'm waiting till I'm better at Swedish before I start Dutch ahah

[@doriendespiegeleer5752]

Wauw. Mooi! En kalmerend ook.

[@hlndb]

Wat mooi!! Na de video heb ik het ook een keer hardop voorgelezen, in mijn Vlaamse accent, om te horen hoe het anders klonk.

[@nico-et3cz]

this is so interesting! I just realized I never heard anyone speak Dutch before, as far as I remember? my mum has a Dutch friend since childhood and I have one too, but I still don't think I've heard them speak the language. I can say "de kat krabt de krullen van de trap" though haha :D but seriously, thanks for sharing this, always love to hear new languages with their own kind of musicality (is that even a word?)

[@SoleilCeline]

Deze poem heb ik nooit gehoord! Dank je wel, het was heel mooi :)

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Dankjewel! En ja, ik denk niet echt dat W.F. Hermans zijn gedichten heel populair zijn, zeker in vergelijking met zijn boeken :)

[@ainoskaa]

just found your channel and i fucking love it

[@Mariamox]

Even though I can't understand it, it sounded really nice

[@annalisaely4298]

I loved those sounds!

[@myrtolefk]

ahh i love this! i'm learning dutch and i wanted to find (or listen to) dutch poetry and literature so this came at the right time for me! (even though i can only catch some words and sentence structures but still)

[@thekiticat]

that was fascinating!

[@Mezelenja]

damn she spittin

[@sheepbay3]

I'll stick to klingon thank you very much 😆

[@heyimsasa]

i don't know what you say, but i love the way you say it 💖

[@reinjouke9743]

Geniaal!

[@icreatetocreate4905]

Soms wordt ik vrolijk van het idee dat ik een land deel met iemand zo gaaf als jij :D

[@yourdream8727]

I understood like 60 % ^^ (I'm German)

[@Caesar_Online]

Sterk!!

[@kxlot79]

So cool! Loved this!😍 TFS!

[@lalaloveslit]

Such a simple but interesting video idea! Didn’t realize I’ve never really heard Dutch spoken before. (Maybe there’s a small scene of it in Spider-Man Far From Home that I’m forgetting lol)

[@rafaela00002]

Dutch sounds so cool

[@quirkyblackenby]

Very cool

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Thank you!! :D

[@squareglobeplus]

mooi!

[@somtooffor6431]

Your Dutch is really good! Groetjes van een Belg.

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Bedankt! Ik ben Nederlands ;) Groetjes terug!

[@somtooffor6431]

@@TheArtisanGeek Wist ik niet. Leuk!

[@TheArtisanGeek]

@@somtooffor6431 Ja, het komt niet echt vaak voor dat ik Nederlands praat op mijn kanaal, dus iedereen denkt vaak snel dat ik Brits ben haha.

[@somtooffor6431]

@@TheArtisanGeek Blijven doen! En met Engelse ondertitels erbij, zou iedereen kunnen meevolgen. Het was alleszins een heel leuke verassing!

[@sebastianlargsob2500]

💚💚💚💚

[@danidkg4071]

omg you're dutch? that's so cool, me too!

[@alyssaking3663]

Hey! Seems like a random question, but I'm starting a podcast and wanted to know what kind of mic you have

[@HoraceRocketMan]

"our poetry"

[@BritFromm]

I really enjoyed your reading of the poem but it did make me a bit sad. 10/10 ⭐

[@linajurgensen4698]

It does sound like old English.

[@joevattamattam6234]

What mic do you use?

[@AJ-zd4ym]

Mooi gelezen

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Dankjewel :)

[@celiananaze]

this is so cool!!!!

[@primuslicnl9290]

Nice Shirt

[@plant9708]

At some points my brain goes "we know what this means from German class!!" and then it realises it's Dutch and I'm left with absolutely no idea whats going on. At least it sounds nice right? 😅

[@marieke5457]

Wauw wat mooie gedaan! 😍

[@danidkg4071]

oh god hermans.... reminds me of dutch class lol

[@sarahgould]

adding dutch to my list of things that give me ~*sapphic energy*~ but aren't sapphic, right after sticker sheets and patsy cline's "why can't he be you"

[@Fedwsfgtr4]

You're Dutch? Wow never knew !!

[@turanatomeko]

How many languages do you speak wow

[@natatavaresbocampagni9539]

How many languages do you speak?

[@maymadison3620]

Didn't know you speak dutch. When did you start learning it and why?

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Yeah, I'm Dutch so that's why :D

[@princessmanitari4993]

Wait you dutch- NOU HALLO DAN

[@sophiasthoughts]

Is Dutch your first language Seiji?

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Third, technically ;)

[@sophiasthoughts]

@@TheArtisanGeek ahh nice! What are the others? If you don't mind me asking

[@racquelrobinson3030]

For anyone who has a babe whose native tongue is Dutch and whose sole reason for existing is being a romantic, more so your romantic... Happy Valentines Day! L-O-L!!!! From a single gyal

[@JamesTaylor-bo8cv]

I always thought you where upper class English based on accent. Do you know any other languages?

[@CaroAbebe]

Yes, quite a few... it’s all in her videos ;-)

[@nelthepisces]

ik had geen idee dat je Nederlans praat 🤯

[@drunkmanta]

W. F. Hermans toch? ik hou persoonlijk echt van zijn “elektrotherapie”

[@lilbeth4804]

it sounds so much like german

[@myrie1]

All I understand is the grrr sound.

[@kaykay1570]

Q for the Dutch Sorry off topic, but is the Netherlands heavily invested in capitalism. Are there many social safety nets. Im Always curious about different European systems. Be nice to hear from the people themselves.

[@icreatetocreate4905]

Short answer, yes. Long answer, yes but we're flawed as hell. The government just fell over the 'toeslagenaffaire' where many many households were screwed over because they were wrongly accused to tax fraud. Those people suddenly had to pay the government thousands of euros. Every attempt the government is making rn to fix the issue is making it worse for those households. Not to mentions the institutionalized racism within the tax system. Everyone with a double nationality was immediately placed under heavier scrutiny. There is much much more, of course, but this is what my uninformed butt is aware of.

[@kaykay1570]

@@icreatetocreate4905 wow, that is crazy, yeah it seems to be a theme, the government tries, the government fails. Its kind of saddening, really. Thanks 😁

[@Sh3rrr]

I'm unfamiliar with Dutch poetry but nice reading :)

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Thank you very much! :)

[@kaodi6993]

It sounds like German, but don’t make any sense to me

[@morganrouzies6198]

I’m in love with you, but I’m a gay boy how is that possible

[@meepitydoodle]

Ooohh it's beautiful :)) I've been wanting to learn Dutch for a while now but I'm waiting till I'm better at Swedish before I start Dutch ahah

[@TheArtisanGeek]

Thank you!! Oh that's so cool you're studying Swedish, it's such a fun language :D

[@meepitydoodle]

@@TheArtisanGeek ahah it is!