William Ewart Gladstone Louw (1913–1980)

Abstract This chapter contains newly crafted translations and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions of three poems by the groundbreaking poet of the “Dertigers” movement in Afrikaans literature, William Edward Gladstone Louw. The first two poems are from the work Four Melancholy Little Songs. Poems include “Kestrel” and “The First Day of Winter.” The chapter concludes with one stand-alone poem, “In Front of the Window.” World-famous composer Arnold van Wyk included “Kestrel” and “The First Day of Winter” as the first and second songs, respectively, in his song cycle “Four Melancholy Little Songs,” scored for medium/medium-high voice. “Kestrel” by composer Blanche Gerstman, is scored for high voice. “Kestrel” is also the third song in Marinus de Jong’s “Six South African Songs” cycle, as well as the second song in Peter Lawrence Cohen’s “Three Serious Songs” cycle for baritone and piano. “The First Day of Winter” is the first song in S. Kennedy’s song cycle “Five Songs for Baritone.” Topics include love, nostalgia, birds, nature, and the seasons.