Michiel de Swaen - Works

Works

De Swaen withdrew to a certain extent from his occupation with the chamber of rhetoric on the grounds of his Christian belief, although he had often been stimulated by his friends - the rhetoricians. And even though he had eagerly applied himself to the chamber of rhetoric in his childhood, he turned down all proposals to publish his work. Only the publication of Andronicus, a translation of a work by Jean Galbert de Campistron, had been granted by De Swaen in 1707. His translation of Le Cid by Corneille was published in Dunkirk by printer Pieter Labus without his approval in 1694. Most of his works were only published after his life, in Bruges or in Ghent, cities in the Southern Netherlands ruled by the Habsburgs. Many of his writings were preserved in the abbey of Sint-Winoksbergen, until the abbey was destroyed under the French Revolution. Therefore it is uncertain today whether we know all of De Swaen’s output.

De Swaen’s poems were often inspired by religion and have presumably been influenced by humanist authors such as Jacob Cats and Joost van den Vondel. His Catharina was obviously influenced by Vondel’s Maegdhen. After all, the Belgian Flemish poet Guido Gezelle later called De Swaen the Vondel of Duinkerke. De Swaen’s theoretical study Neder-duitsche digtkonde of rym-konst proves his erudition, especially his knowledge of works by 17th century French poet-playwright Pierre Corneille and Aristotle’s Poetics.

De Swaen’s religious convictions and his dedication to the Counter-Reformation are illustrated in works such as Het leven en de dood van Jesus Christus (The Life and Death of Jesus Christ). In this, preceded by Anton van Duinkerke, De Swaen followed the example of the moralising ‘’Diktatiek’’ by Poirtiers, which inspired Cats too. In addition, he wrote two tragedies Martelaarspelen or Treurspelen (tragedies about the martyrs Catharina and Mauritius).

De Swaen also showed an interest in European history and wrote an historical play De zedighe doot van Carel den Vijfden (about the death of Charles V). His texts dedicated to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, prove his attachment to the Netherlands and his religious conviction; he depicts Charles V as a true Christian hero. De Swaen’s most important work, De gecroondse leerse, which he himself described as a clucht-spel (comedy), is based upon an anecdote about Charles V and was tremendously popular.

De Swaen also wrote some occasional poems.

Although De Swaen wrote in the Dutch standard language of his time, he was no stranger to classic and French authors. He handed over his Dutch translation of Pierre Corneille’s Le Cid to Barentin, an administrator of the French king Louis XIV. He also translated Jean Galbert de Campistron‘s Andronicus into Dutch. Many of his works show the influence of French classicism, such as De gecroonde leerse, split up into five parts and formulated in alexandrines.