Jan Reinder Leonard van Bruggen (1895–1948)

Abstract This chapter contains newly crafted English translations and International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions of six stand-alone poems by Jan Reinder Leonard van Bruggen. Poems include “Outside the Breeze Rustles Softly,” “Give Me,” “Homesickness/Nostalgia,” “Spring Song,” “My Soul Is Sick with Longing,” and “Lullaby.” “Outside the Breeze Rustles Softly” is set to music by prolific composer and organist S. le Roux Marais, whose compositional style favored that of the German Romantic Lied. Marais was a pioneer in the development of the Afrikaans art song. Marais wrote two arrangements of these lyrics in his “Fifteen Afrikaans Lullabies,” where they are listed as no. 4 and no. 6. “Give Me” is the first song in composer Joyce Loots’s song cycle “Three Afrikaans Songs.” This poem was also set by S. le Roux Marais and is the second song in his song cycle “To the Bushveld and Two Other Songs.” “Homesickness/Nostalgia” was set by Marais and Anna Lambrechts-Vos and is the third song in “Songs of Anna Lambrecht-Vos.” “My Soul Is Sick with Longing” was set by both Marais and P. J. Lemmer. Its lyrics are not to be confused with that of the poem “Homesickness/Longing.” Illuminating footnotes are given to enhance the reader’s comprehension of the unique biodiversity of the Southern African landscape and multicultural distinctiveness of its people. Topics include longing, nostalgia, love, the sea, nature, and the seasons.