The true drug

The final poem in Poësy has the revealing title ‘Boetsangh, op de wyse van den 130. Psalm’ (‘Penitential Song, in the Manner of Psalm 130’) (J471). It is a chronological story about the relationship between Six and God, and deals with sin and forgiveness. Six tells how his sins have created a ‘scheibergh’ (‘separating mountain’) (l. 7) between him and God. A reconciliation between the two follows, but the situation soon deteriorates again, because Six falls back into a sinful life. This time there is no mountain, but a tower of sins that separates them from each other. But, thanks to the purifying blood of Christ, Six’s sins are erased, and he finally finds grace again with God. At first glance, this allegorical confessional story seems to apply to anyone. But, upon closer examination, we recognise formulations that explicitly point to a trader in exotic drugs: Jesus’ words are sweeter than Brazilian sugar cane, Six proclaims at the end of the text (see the quote above).

As we have seen, the order of the poems in Poësy makes a chaotic impression, but the place of ‘Boetsangh, op de wyse van den 130. Psalm’ shows once again that, behind the order in which many of the poems appear, there is a well-considered plan. As the final text in the collection, this poem emphasises, on the one hand, the confessional content of Poësy – a function that, as I have shown in this book, many of Six’s poems have. On the other hand, this poem anticipates the book that Six would publish after twenty years of silence, a rhyming version of the psalms of David (1674). ‘Boetsangh’ also points to a dilemma that has been central to this book: in many texts, Six describes how, as a merchant, he finds himself having to choose between morally good and bad drugs. The words with which he ends the poem are interesting in this respect. He thanks Christ: ‘Myn heil, myn middelaar’ (‘My saviour, my mediator’) (l. 136).