Jules Deelder

Video Side by side

English

Original language

Repetition poem

Some poems should be
rewritten every day
Just the same old poem
every day again.
Other poems shouldn’t.

Others however are best left
unwritten.
These are by far the majority.

But some poems
should be rewritten every day.
Just the same old poem
every day again.
Until it is woven

irreversibly with our being
and with reality is
fabricated into truth.

Repeteergedicht

Sommige gedichten dienen
elke dag herschreven.
Gewoon hetzelfde gedicht
elke dag opnieuw.
Andere gedichten niet.

Wéér andere bleven beter
ongeschreven.
Dat zijn verreweg de meeste.

Maar sommige gedichten
dienen elke dag herschreven.
Gewoon hetzelfde gedicht
elke dag opnieuw.
Tot het onlosmakelijk

met ons wezen is verweven
en met de werkelijkheid
tot waarheid is verdicht.

Jules Deelder

(The Netherlands, 1944 - 2019)

Jules Deelder was in more than one way an iconic poet. As a master of directness, he knew how to strike the heart, the essence of our existence, to cherish life with humor and verbal playfulness and to mock complacency. A poet of style, the personification of Deelderschap, a combination of sharpness, swing and sagacity that no other poet could and can match.As early as 1966, at the great Dutch...