Pieter Cornelis BoutensHis original family name was changed from Bouters to Boutens by a decision of the District Court of Middelburg, 14 March 1898, Act No. 79 (February 20, 1870 – March 14, 1943) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

, and mystic.

Biography

Boutens was born in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

. He grew up in

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

in a strict, Protestant middle-class environment. After finishing the Gymnasium Middelburg, he began to study classical languages in 1890 at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

, and graduated in 1899 on a study of the Greek comedy writer

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

His debut as a poet was the ''Utrecht Student Almanac'' in 1891. His early work was inspired by the ''verses'' of

Herman Gorter Herman Gorter (; 26 November 1864 – 15 September 1927) was a Dutch poet and council communist theoretician. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers, a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amsterdam in the 1880 ...

; later sources of inspiration were

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...

and the Bible. Boutens' style became based on the idea of achieving a "higher reality". In the course of 45 years, he published some 20 volumes of poetry, but also a large number of translations of Ancient Greek (i.a. ''Ilias'' and ''Odyssey''), Persian, French, German and English poets. In 1894 he accepted the post of teacher of classical languages at the ''Noorthey'' boarding school for boys in

Voorschoten Voorschoten () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is a smaller town in the Randstad, enclosed by the cities of Leiden, Wassenaar and Leidschendam-Voorburg. The municipality covers an area ...

, at the time a renowned institute for young people from aristocratic families. After a physical collapse in 1904 and a subsequent holiday in

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, he settled in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, where he earned his living by private tuition and the financial support of some aristocratic friends he had met at Noorthey. Boutens became a member of the Association of Writers (founded in 1905), and became its president in 1918. In the last year of his life, during the German occupation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he also became a member of the ''

Gleichschaltung The Nazi term (), meaning "synchronization" or "coordination", was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler—leader of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany—established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all ...

'' professional artists' association, the

Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer The Netherlands Chamber of Culture () was an institution established by Nazi Germany in the occupied Netherlands to regulate the production and distribution of art. Officially established on 25 November 1941, the chamber followed the model ...

. This taint did not hinder his posthumous fame as a poet and translator: his voluminous collected works were successively published in seven volumes from 1943-1954. In the 1980s his homosexuality was disclosed. A volume of poetry about homosexual love he had published in 1919 as a work of a poet who had prematurely died, the ''Strofen van Andries de Hoghe'' turned out to be Boutens's own work. Boutens died in 1943 in The Hague, 73 years old.

Works

* 1898 - ''Verzen'' * 1902 - ''Praeludiën'' * 1904 - ''Naenia'' * 1907 - ''Stemmen'' * 1908 - ''Beatrijs'' * 1908 - ''Spel van Platoons leven'' * 1909 - ''Vergeten liedjes'' (''Forgotten songs'') * 1910 - ''Alianora'' * 1912 - ''Carmina'' * 1916 - ''Lente-maan'' * 1919 - ''Strophen uit de nalatenschap van Andries de Hoghe'' * 1920 - ''Sonnetten'' * 1921 - ''Liederen van Isoude'' * 1922 - ''Zomerwolken'' (''Summer Clouds'') * 1926 - ''De sonnetten van

Louise Labé Louise Charlin Perrin Labé ( – 25 April 1566), also identified as La Belle Cordière ("The Fair Ropemaker") after her father's job, was a French Renaissance poet from Lyon. Biography Louise Labé was born in Lyon, into a family of ropemakers ...

'' (''The Sonnets of Louise Labé'') * 1930 - ''Oud-Perzische kwatrijnen'' * 1931 - ''Bezonnen verzen'' * 1932 - ''Honderd Hollandsche kwatrijnen'' * 1932 - ''Strophen en andere verzen uit de nalatenschap van Andries de Hoghe'' * 1942 - ''Tusschenspelen'' * 1942 - ''Gegeven keur'' * 1943-1954 - ''Verzameld werk'' (Collected works) seven volumes, published after his death

Awards

* 1913 -

Tollens Prize The Tollens-Fonds ("Tollens foundation)" is a Dutch organization named for poet Hendrik Tollens (1780–1856). The organization awards a notable literary prize, the Tollens Prize and till 2008 also the Jacobson Prize. Tollens Prize The Tollens Pri ...

for Lifetime Achievement * 1914 - Nieuwe Gids-prijs for ''Carmina'' * 1925 - Award for Mastery for ''Zomerwolken''

References

External links

* *
Poems by Boutens in the Laurens Janszoon Coster project
(Dutch)
Boutens in het ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland''
(Dutch)

(Dutch)
Collection of works by Boutens at the Zeeuwse Bibliotheek
(Dutch)

(Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Boutens, Pieter Cornelis 1870 births 1943 deaths People from Middelburg, Zeeland Dutch male poets