Marsman, Hendrik

Born Sept. 30, 1899, in Zeist, Utrecht Province; died June 21, 1940, in the English Channel. Dutch poet. Received a legal education and from 1929 to 1933 worked as a barrister in Utrecht.

In 1923, Marsman published his first collection, Verses, in which the influence of German expressionism is distinct. In the collection The Black Port (1934) pessimistic motifs appeared; in subsequent verses, masterly represented country landscapes have a gloomy and fantastic character. In the lyrical collection Temple and Cross (1940), the poet’s striving for the beautiful is combined with Christian asceticism. Of interest are his novel The Death of Angele Degroux (1933) and the book Self-portrait of J. F. (1932-37). Marsman was also a literary critic.