Spijt Explained

Dutch; Flemish: '''"Spijt"''' ("Regret") is a poem by Flemish poet Willem Elsschot. First published in 1934, the poem was reprinted in his 1957 collected works without the final verse paragraph,^[1] which contains a possibly controversial term for "woman".^[2] The poem, which expresses the guilt^[3] and desperate love felt too late by a son for the now-dead mother,^[4] is one of Elsschot's best-known works. The last line of the sometimes-omitted paragraph, "Dutch; Flemish: Dient het wijf dat moeder heet" ("Serve the woman known as mother"), has become an oft-cited phrase in Dutch to suggest the difficulty of serving and even portraying motherhood.^[5]

External links

• Three Elsschot poems on "Mother"

Notes and References

1. Book: Kets-Vree, A.. Over Willem Elsschot: beschouwingen en interviews. 1982. BZZTôH. The Hague. 9789062911219. 236.
2. News: Meer wijven. Sanders. Ewoud . Ewoud Sanders. 9 October 2003. NRC Handelsblad. 8 May 2012.
3. Book: Roosen, C.J.A.. Adolescenten en de liefde: psychotherapie met adolescenten. 8 May 2012. 2004. Van Gorcum. 9789023240075. 172. 'Dient het wijf dat moeder heet': pathologische liefde tussen moeders en dochters.
4. News: 'Dient het wijf dat moeder heet'. 14 August 2007. De Standaard. 8 May 2012.
5. News: Een bittere voorstelling over het wijf dat moeder heet. Hanenberg. Patrick van den. 24 January 1995. de Volkskrant. 8 May 2012.