Lucebert en de religie: Een oratorium

Abstract

This article reviews the intertextual relations between the poetry of the Dutch poet Lucebert and the Bible. Although Lucebert is by no means a religious poet he freely uses Biblical citations and allusions in his poetry. This has special relevance for one of his newest volumes of poetry entitled Troost de hysterische robot - Gedichten en een oratorium (Console the hysterical robot - Poems and an oratorio). The last part of this title refers to an oratorio - which can be defined as a lyrical-musical drama which usually has a religious substance. The Biblical jargon that Lucebert uses does not only refer to texts but also refers to isolated words or phrases which belong to Biblical or religious jargon in general. In his reflections on human destiny and fate, the poet uses many anchoring texts from the Bible. One comes to the conclusion that Lucebert's poems do not fall within the framework of a religious system, but he does use religion and then especially Biblical allusions to testify to his dissatisfaction with established institutions which include the church. The main stylistic device he uses to reach his objective is antithesis, which is also a topic of discussion in this article.