hartbreek (heartbreak) Susan Smith
Poem in context:
Susan Smith's first poems appeared in New Voices 1 in 1997 and some of her poems have
since appeared in other publications, among others Versjoernaal, Vonk @ verses 1 & 2,
Groot Verseboek and a Dutch anthology, De Ontbestemmelingen, where one of her poems
were translated to Dutch by Gerrit Komrij.
In 1993 she obtained the degree DLitt on feminism in Afrikaans literature. In this poem she
explains how a young girl can fall in love and how easily her dreams can be shattered.
Analysis:
bevoorregte posisie Certain positions in a line attract attention and carry greater
(favouring position) emphasis than the rest: usually the first and / or the last word.
When the word is in rhyming position (favoring position), the
reader immediately notices it - it carries the emphasis. That's
why poets play with word order and rhyming words when they
want to emphasize certain thoughts. (emphasize/ stress)
enjambement Where one line overflows to the next without a resting point at
(enjambment) the end of the line. If there is no punctuation, but one still has
a natural rest at the end of the line, it is not enjambment.
(continuation of a sentence)
inversie (omgekeerde This is when the poet changes the word order of a sentence
woorde) to, for example, to emphasize certain words for the sake of
(inversion) the rhyme or the rhythm in the poem.
metafoor A figure of speech that is used to make a comparison
(metaphor) between two things that aren’t alike but have something in
common. Example, your stone brown eyes.
sinestesie It is imagery where a poet stimulates the meaning of one
(synesthesia) sense to describe another sense, e.g. "see how your hand is
almost like whispers around her little finger. "A sound word
describes an action that the speaker sees.
vergelyking The poet forms a picture through the words. Words like
(comparison) “soos” or “net soos” is used.
progressie It indicates development and change. For example,
(progression) there may be development in the course of time or in the
course of events (chain of events).
Poem in context:
Susan Smith's first poems appeared in New Voices 1 in 1997 and some of her poems have
since appeared in other publications, among others Versjoernaal, Vonk @ verses 1 & 2,
Groot Verseboek and a Dutch anthology, De Ontbestemmelingen, where one of her poems
were translated to Dutch by Gerrit Komrij.
In 1993 she obtained the degree DLitt on feminism in Afrikaans literature. In this poem she
explains how a young girl can fall in love and how easily her dreams can be shattered.
Analysis:
bevoorregte posisie Certain positions in a line attract attention and carry greater
(favouring position) emphasis than the rest: usually the first and / or the last word.
When the word is in rhyming position (favoring position), the
reader immediately notices it - it carries the emphasis. That's
why poets play with word order and rhyming words when they
want to emphasize certain thoughts. (emphasize/ stress)
enjambement Where one line overflows to the next without a resting point at
(enjambment) the end of the line. If there is no punctuation, but one still has
a natural rest at the end of the line, it is not enjambment.
(continuation of a sentence)
inversie (omgekeerde This is when the poet changes the word order of a sentence
woorde) to, for example, to emphasize certain words for the sake of
(inversion) the rhyme or the rhythm in the poem.
metafoor A figure of speech that is used to make a comparison
(metaphor) between two things that aren’t alike but have something in
common. Example, your stone brown eyes.
sinestesie It is imagery where a poet stimulates the meaning of one
(synesthesia) sense to describe another sense, e.g. "see how your hand is
almost like whispers around her little finger. "A sound word
describes an action that the speaker sees.
vergelyking The poet forms a picture through the words. Words like
(comparison) “soos” or “net soos” is used.
progressie It indicates development and change. For example,
(progression) there may be development in the course of time or in the
course of events (chain of events).
