his book is everything poetry should be: beautiful, immersive, symbolic and a joy to the heart. It uses language like a paintbrush.

Gorter is arguably the Netherlands' greatest poet and despite this book being originally published in 1899, it is still the case. It's easy to see why.

The story is about a girl called May, the daughter of the sun and moon, as she moves through her life, particularly at the bloom of youth. The imagery is tied to the month of May with the vibrancy and newness of the summer season. It reads like a novel but in an elevated style, focusing on all of the senses but mostly sound and song. You can almost hear it, too.

Tying it altogether is nature and the landscape of flowers. To further enhance the experience are delicate images in the same style as the cover that are truly evocative. Absolutely stunning.

Written in three sections of rhyming couplets. the translation has not taken the feel of the poem away. All credit to M. Kruijff, the translator. A rich, stunning work that should be read by everyone who appreciates language.

Such a beautiful story wrote entirely in a poetic way. This prose is not to be missed. This wonderful story about a lady called may. It follows her birth, meeting a poet to her final days. I just love the poetry by this Danish poet and im so thankful that it has been translated into English for the first Time. The words of this story contains so much passion and so many wonderful feelings flowing through this words. It is so rare that you get to read the life of a woman through the delights of such emotive poetry. It is truly stunning and well worth reading. Im sure you will love it just as much as I did. I can't recommend it enough. I adored the 3 pictures that start each section. I would of loved to see more of these pictures throughout the book to give it that extra sense.

So much praise goes out to the author, translater and publishers for bringing us this magnificent piece of poetic work. I just can't wait to read more from this author and publishers. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/may-by-herman-gorter-arimei-books-4-star under my name or ladyreading365 or lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

May describes the magical journey of adolescence against the background of Holland's flowery dunescapes. In brush strokes of wonder-filled impressions a stunningly unspoiled girl, May, explores the promise of springtime and the intense spiritual life of youth. However, the cycle of life always moves on, and as May matures and returns to earth, she finds it readying for summer.

Herman Gorter’s epic poem May is truly a hidden treasure for the English-speaking world. The writing style reflects a youthful vision of the world. There is an innocence that flows as smoothly as the waves on the beach. I am reminded of Whitman and getting peacefully lost in The Leaves of Grass. Here the flow is equally hypnotic. The reader will be drawn into the world of the poet, and time will pass without notice. As Monet painted, Gorter wrote.

Gorter poetry is on par with any poetry of the past. An equal amount of credit is due to the translation by Michiel Kruijff. Dutch is a complex language to translate into English and nearly impossible to translate into poetry while keeping both the original rhythm and meaning. Reading May, the typical English reader will not suspect this is a translated work. That truly reflects on the translator. A masterwork of poetry and translation.

Though the language was beautiful and the imagery quite lovely, this poem didn't particularly move me as i had hoped it would.

Having read Herman Gorter's poems before, I knew what I was going to read. His poems are work of art and this book was no less. The poems of youth touched my heart and soothed me and I loved reading and re-reading the poems..
Totally loved it and recommended!

AD // Gifted • Thank you very much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

As a translator myself, I know the struggle of translating poetry, and keeping the same tone and message as the original. Although I do not speak Dutch, so have not read “May” in its original language, this edition is well crafted, delicate and full of life.

Strong visual imagery is used throughout the poem, alongside an AABB rhyme scheme and an iambic pentameter. I do not know the original poem’s internal meter, but I do know that it had the same AABB rhyme scheme, and transferring a poem’s initial rhyme scheme into a translation is a feat extremely hard to accomplish.

The world of “May” is so intricately interwoven with Norse mythology. I adore mythology, so it was a welcome appearance! This is the first of Gorter’s work I have read or heard of, and his allegorical choices really demonstrated his skill level. I may explore more of his work, if translations are available.

My least favourite thing about this poem is it’s usage of enjambment. Instead of achieving a flowly effect (the usual goal of enjambment), at times it felt jagged and unnatural.

In conclusion, this poem is a beautiful epic of grief, life, death and youth. I am very pleased at the inclusion of an introduction and a synopsis, as it helped me appreciate the poem and understand certain elements of it. I think complex novels or poems sometimes need a synopsis, as to make them more accessible, which assists the reader’s own interpretations.

I would rate this 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Arimei Books for the arc copy of this translation!
I really wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did. It's an epic poem about youth, spring, and adolescence, but I felt that it did really drag on in parts. The writing is (mostly) intricately beautiful, the story is a little dull, and I found it to be a slow read with my mind drifting often.

Despite its beautiful translation, presentation and illustrations I found it very hard to get into this epic poem by Herman Gorter. There were undoubtedly some beautiful sections but I would only recommend this if you are already a lover of the extended style of epic poetry.

I really wanted to like May by Herman Gorter. I thought the writing was beautiful, but if you asked me what the story was about I could not tell you. I can remember little bits and pieces from throughout. I think this is a book people are going to completely understand and love or be lost and reject.

I received an eARC from Aremei Books through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

pretty writing but I don’t remember as much from it as I wish I would. It didn’t make me think about it afterwards which I found sad,, but other than that, as I said nice writing and I read it all in one sitting!

i appreciate what the poet was trying to do with this one but the metaphors missed for me :( i did really enjoy it and i know so many others will like it but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approving me for this arc!

I really enjoyed this book, the writing technique was fabulous. The way it was written was beautiful.

I would really recommend this book if you want to feel fully immersed into something

You might expect that to read a poem over 150 pages long would be a grueling undertaking. I suppose if you hate poetry and clever wordplay and beautiful symbolism and gentle syllables, it would be a terrible experience. However, if you enjoy even one of these things and are committed to reading the entirety of section 2 in one sitting, you'll likely be delighted by this book. I was continually surprised and delighted by the intricate word choices and the foamy imagery. I'll never think of the month of May quite the same way again.

This story envelopes you in a cocoon of May. You get lost in her tale and of the tale of the one who loves her most. Vivid sceneries transport you across the springtime and beyond, telling the tale of the rise and fall of "May". A most enjoyable tale in verse.

I really like the front cover it’s beautiful and the colour blue really drawn me to the book. I found May hard to get into myself but some of the descriptions are really good and you can really see what the writer is portraying.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

Thank you very much for the ARC.

I thought "May" was very dense for me. I enjoy classic poetry and recently read long poetry by St. Vincent Millay that I adored but this one I unfortunately didn't connect with very much.

As someone who does not much enjoy poetry, this book did unfortunately not change my mind. I DNFed it not far in. I think I do not perhaps have the mind of someone who understands poetry and sees it in the beautiful way in which it is intended, therefore I struggle to read it and end up finding it, put frankly, boring and meaningless.

In my opinion, I think a lover of poetry could still find this enjoyable and see it for what it is meant to be, even though I couldn’t.

I was hoping to use May as an example of epic poetry from around the world in my World Literature class. However, either the poem itself or the English translation is too dense and metaphysical for them to grasp. I have to take the world of translator, M Kruijff as to the poem’s broad impactful beauty. It did not come through effectively for me.

Thank you to Arimei Books and NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

May
An epic poem about youth
by Herman Gorter
Pub Date 26 May 2021 | Archive Date 31 Jan 2022
Arimei Books
Poetry



I am reviewing a copy of May through Arimei Books and Netgalley:


In May the magical journey of adolescence is explained against the background of Holland's flowery dunescapes. Adolescence is explained in strokes wonder-filled impressions a stunningly unspoiled girl. May not only explores the promise of springtime and the intense spiritual life of youth. The cycle of life always moves on, and as May matures and returns to earth, she finds it readying for summer.




May (Mei) was originally published Mei (May) in 1889, this spontaneous and vibrant epic poem was immediately recognized by his peers as a landmark work for Dutch literature. May is inspired in part by John Keats' Endymion (1818), the poem touches upon a wide range of themes, including the innocence and wonder of childhood, the hubris and disillusionment of adolescence, unattainable divine love and the inevitability of transience.



May is a beautiful story of youth, of springtime and so much more.



I give May, five out of five stars!


Happy Reading!