Martinus Nijhoff

Martinus Nijhoff (April 20, 1894, The Hague – January 26, 1953, The Hague) was a Dutch poet and essayist. He studied literature in Amsterdam and law in Utrecht. His debut was made in 1916 with his volume De wandelaar ("The wanderer"). From that moment he gradually expanded his reputation by his unique style of poetry: not experimental, like Paul Van Ostaijen, yet distinguished by the clarity of his language combined with mystical content. He was a literary craftsman who employed skilfully various verse forms from different literary epochs.

Some of his best known works include Het Uur U ("H Hour", 1936) and the long poem Awater (1934). A number of individual sonnets also rose to fame, particularly De Moeder de Vrouw ("The Mother the Woman/Wife") commemorating the opening of a bridge over the river Waal near Zaltbommel. Joseph Brodsky considered the poem Awater one of the grandest poems of the 20th century.^[1]

See also

Poetry portal

• Heer Halewijn

Notes

1. ^ See: Cynthia L. Haven, Joseph Brodsky: conversations. University Press of Mississippi 2002, p. 68.

External links

• (Dutch) File Martinus Nijhoff in the Digital Library of Dutch Literature (DBNL)
• (Dutch) Biography Martinus Nijhoff (W.A. Ornée, 'Nijhoff, Martinus (1894–1953)', in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland [Biographical Dictionary of The Netherlands], 13-03-2008)

Persondata
Name	Nijhoff, Martinus
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Date of birth	April 20, 1894
Place of birth
Date of death	January 26, 1953
Place of death