D. J. Opperman


Diederik 'Johannes Opperman, commonly referred to as D.J. Opperman' was a South African poet.

Biography

He was born on 29 September 1914 in Dundee in Natal, where he grew up. He went to school in the towns of Estcourt and Vryheid, and afterwards received an M.A. degree from the University of Natal. He taught at schools in Pietermaritzburg and Johannesburg, and later on became editor of Die Huisgenoot. In 1949 he became a lecturer at the University of Cape Town. During this period he completed one of his most important publications – Digters van Dertig – in 1953.
He won the prestigious Hertzog prize for poetry in 1947 for his collection Heilige beeste. From 1960 to 1975 he was a professor of Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University, where he also served on the editorial board of the publication Standpunte. He died in 1985 in Stellenbosch.
He won four Hertzog prizes, four Hofmeyer prizes, two CNA Prizes, a prize from the "Drie-Eeue Stigting" in 1956, the Louis Luyt-prize in 1980 and the Gustav Preller prize for literary criticism in 1985.
The South African composers Cromwell Everson and Prof Piet de Villiers wrote music for some of Opperman's poems, such as Kontraste and Nagstorm oor die see.

List of works

Poetry

  • Heilige Beeste
  • Negester oor Ninevé
  • Engel uit die klip
  • Blom en baaierd
  • Dolosse
  • Kuns-mis
  • Edms. Bpk
  • Komas uit 'n bamboesstok
  • ''Sproeireën''

    Verse plays

  • Periandros van Korinthe
  • Vergelegen
  • ''Voëlvry''

    Essays on literature

  • Wiggelstok
  • Naaldekoker Daggaroker
  • ''Verspreide opstelle''

    Poetry Translations

Spoeireën

Tiny Drops - 1987
If take a tangerine peel

bend it between my fingers and snap,

out break tiny droplets

which instill scent from my hand,

the orchards again of Swartfoloos

and with tangerines around me

I know how to comfort a woman
The poem forms an extended metaphor whereby the tiny droplets produced by the cracking of a peel is compared to memories. This comparison leans heavily into the idea of smells being able to bring a person to a moment in the past. Unfortunately the translation of the poem doesn't convey this point as effectively as in the original language, Afrikaans.