Essay. ‘Een zweem van geest’

In this essay Mieke van Zonneveld explores the relationship between holiness and the poetic function of language. Drawing from several Biblical passages and from personal experience as a poet, she describes how certain features of poetry make it the best form available to communicate about the in essence indescribable realm of holiness. One such feature is the inextricability between form and content in poetry: the message is the form and the form is the message, much like the tabernacle. Secondly, the poetic form assumes a relationship which is often hierarchical. There is, therefore, a close relationship between poetry and prayer. Thirdly, the poetic form allows for ambiguities and the incomprehensible: feelings and ideas may remain paradoxical and absolute conclusions are not required. Lastly, the Bible emphasizes that the relationship between man and God exists in and through language. This endows language with much potential, and poetry, which may be described as language at its best, is therefore an ideal form for communicating about the holy realm.