Johanna Brandt
To me Johanna Brandt is a prime example
of such a person, who were clinging
to her integrity and bravely lived
to what she thought was right.
She was the daughter
of the well known reformed minister
Nicolaas Jacobus van Warmelo
who played a leading role
during the first Anglo-Boer war
that came to an end
with the Boer victory at Majuba hill.
Johanna had a beautiful
soprano voice and got music instruction
form a Mrs Uggla,
(a Swedish music teacher) ,
and used to sing the solo parts
at choir performances.
While living on a prime estate called
Harmonie in Pretoria, the family
were friends with President Paul Kruger,
general Piet Joubert and his wife
and dr. W.J. Leyds (the secretary of state) .
On Harmonie there was an abundance
of willow trees where it was situated
near to the Apies River
and Zuid-Afrikaansce republic
government buildings.
During the Jameson raid,
Johanna was visiting her uncle
in Florida (near to Johannesburg)
and at the time when this trouble
was at its worst
she by herself rode by horse
all the way back
to her home in Pretoria.
While studying music in Germany in 1897
Johanna fell in love
with the reformed minister Louis Ernest Brandt
whom she met in the Netherlands
who was a rowing champion of Holland
and a well build good looking man,
but Johanna returned to live in Pretoria
and was there
when the British invaded that city
living on the Harmonie estate.
Thousands of British soldiers
marched hungry and tired
into Pretoria, dressed in kaki
and were dirty from the travelling.
The British soldiers came to a halt
in front of the open square
near to the government buildings
and on command sat down on the ground
Some started eating the rations
that they were carrying along,
some immediately started sleeping
and one looked up into the face
of the young girl saying:
"Thank God, the war is over, "
but with a voice full of feeling
Johanna replied:
"Tommy Atkins, the war has only just begun! "
There were some soldiers camping
on the grounds at Harmonie,
Lord Kitchener had his headquarters
right next door
and till the end of the war
she never had a moment of peace
but this did not bother Johanna
as she and her mother
became spies for the Boer leaders
and by love letters to Louis Ernest Brandt
Johanna was sending coded messages
to President Paul Kruger in the Netherlands.
Johanna even smuggled explosives
and explosive fuses
into that part of Pretoria
which was occupied by the British
that was concealed
in a lady's hat box
and the British officer
did not even realise that the hat case
was quite heavy for such a slender girl.
A message to the paper "Review of Reviews, "
about the inhuman conditions
in the Irene concentration camp
where Johanna was working as a nurse
was smuggled in a cacao tin
all the way to Great Britain.
On her way to be married
in the Netherlands Johanna travelled by ship
and while the British people aboard
were celebrating and partying after their victory
and the peace of Vereeniging
Johanna kept to her cabin,
as she only felt the bitterness and pain
of a nation whose farms, towns
and women and children
were destroyed.
She could not shake off
the wasted children,
in the Irene concentration camp
the cruelty of the British doctors,
the cold bloodedness
of the British soldiers.
She got married to Louis Brandt in Arnhem,
convinced her new husband
to come to South Africa
where her country, and people
after war was living in poverty
and where he was a reformed minister
and eventually for about twenty years
the moderator of the reformed church.
Johanna was diagnosed
with stomach cancer
from the results of X-rays
and in 1917
the doctor wanted to do an operation,
but Johanna decided not to have the operation
and to stick to her principles
of a natural cure by eating grapes,
drinking only water and milk
and trusting in the power of God.
The doctor gave her only weeks to live
but she kept to what she did believe
and was totally cured living
another forty-seven years.
While her husband was moderator
of the Dutch reformed church
Johanna claimed to have been visited
by a angel from God
and by the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
she did believe to have had some visions
about the need of her Afrikaner people
to convert from their sinful ways,
that the second coming of Christ
was drawing closer
and that He had chosen
the Afrikaner people,
and was coming back
to establish his kingdom
right here in South Africa.
She prophesied about a coming
world wide time of great tribulation
and the Dutch reformed faith
ignored what she was saying,
publishers did not want to publish
her book called the millennium,
which she published at her own cost
and she was mocked
by the newspapers,
by the political parties
and her warnings
to the South African tribal people
which she translated
into their indigenous languishes
was totally ignored by them
and although she did not know
visionary Nicolaas Van Rensburg
while they were living
at the same time,
some of her predictions
run hand in hand to his.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Related quotes
Beautiful Prize
The father giveth, and the father taketh away
Johanna prays in her bed
He drinks his beer to the tv chatter
Thinks dark thoughts in his head
When the house that he keeps with his hard won pay
Is finally asleep after his brutal day
He turns his eyes on his beautiful prize
Johanna watches her door open just a crack
And a hand that once held her runs down the length of her back
Her fallen angel lies down on her bed
So much confusion in her beautiful head
Johanna closes her eyes
In a house full of secrets the truth doesnt matter
Johanna buries her shame and dreams of redemption
They just scatter, she grows numb to the pain
She cant remember how it was before
And she doesnt know who she is anymore
Shes in disguise as his beautiful prize
Johanna watches her life from the outside
And she dreams that one day shell fly free from this mess
Shes a hawk trying to soar with a broken wing
And she doesnt talk anymore about anything
She just closes her eyes
She just cant stand his anger, she just cant bear his heat
She takes a long hard look at life on the street, yeah
In a house full of secrets the truth doesnt matter
And any dreams of salvation, they just shatter
Johanna watches the world from the outside,
And she dreams of the day shell fly free from this mess
She doesnt know what shes waiting for
Cause theres nothing left in this house anymore
And in his eyes shes just a beautiful prize
Oh, johanna just a beautiful prize...
Yeah, johanna...
Oh, hanna...
song performed by by Rick Springfield
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Just Like Birds
Little johanna girl of my prairie
Help me fill this house with living words
Further up an further in
Let em fly from our lips
Just like birds
Just like birds
All that dark woods from pakistan
The glory the glory lodged inside
Strive to enter the narrow gate child
To the fountain that flows deep an wide
He will never leave you
My much afraid
He waits patient
In our prayers unprayed
Now stay close to me
In an amongst the trees
Ill carry your shoes child
You run an play beneath the eaves
Our faith will come by the hearin
A whisper in the leaves
Listen johanna hear his voice
In the drone of the bees
He will never leave you
My much afraid
He waits patient
In our prayers unprayed
song performed by by 16 Horsepower
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lord Robert's Triumphal Entry into Pretoria
'Twas in the year of 1900, and on the 5th of June,
Lord Roberts entered Pretoria in the afternoon;
His triumphal entry was magnificent to see,
The British Army marching behind him fearlessly.
With their beautiful banners unfurled to the breeze,
But the scene didn't the Boers please;
And they immediately made some show of fight,
But at the charge of the bayonet they were put to flight.
The troops, by the people, were received with loud cheers,
While many of them through joy shed joyous tears;
Because Lord Roberts from bondage had set them free,
Which made them dance and sing with glee.
Lord Roberts' march into Pretoria was inspiring to see,
It is reckoned one of the greatest achievements in our military history;
Because the Boers were watching him in front and behind,
But he scattered them like chaff before the wind.
Oh! it was a most beautiful and inspiring sight
To see the British bayonets glittering in the sunlight,
Whilst the bands played "See the conquering hero comes,"
While the people in ecstasy towards them run.
The British marched into Pretoria like the rushing tide,
And the Boers around Pretoria there no longer could abide,
Because the British at the charge of the bayonet made them run with fear,
And fly from Pretoria just like wild dear.
Then Lord Roberts cried, "Pull down the Transvaal Flag,
And hoist the Union Jack instead of the Transvaal rag;
And shout 'Britannia for ever,' and 'Long live our Queen,'
For she is the noblest Queen the world has ever seen."
Then the Union Jack was hoisted and unfurled to the breeze,
Which certainly did the Boers displease,
When they saw the Union Jack flying o'er their capital,
The sight thereof amazed them, and did them appall.
And when old Kruger saw Lord Roberts he shook with fright,
Then he immediately disguised himself and took to flight,
Leaving his poor wife in Pretoria behind,
But the British troops have treated her very kind.
Now let us all thank Lord Roberts for his great bravery,
Who has gained for the people of Pretoria their liberty,
By his skillful tactics and great generalship, be it told,
And the courage of his soldiers, who fought like lions bold.
Lord Roberts is a brave man, be it said,
Who never was the least afraid
To defend his Queen and country when called upon;
And by his valorous deeds great battles he has won.
Then success to Lord Roberts and the British Army,
May God protect them by land and by sea;
And enable them always to conquer the Boers,
And beat all foreign foes from our shores.
poem by William Topaz McGonagall
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Visions Of Johanna
Aint it just like the night to play tricks
When youre tryin to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though were all doin our best to deny it.
And louise holds a handful of rain temptin you to defy it.
Lights flicker from the opposite loft.
In this room the heat pipes just cough.
The country music station plays soft,
But theres nothing, really nothing, to turn off.
Just louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of johanna that conquer my mind.
In the empty lot where the ladies play
Blindmans bluff with the key chain,
And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the d train.
We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight,
Ask himself if its him or them thats really insane.
But louise shes all right, shes just near,
Shes delicate and seems like the mirror,
But she just makes it all too concise and too clear
That johannas not here.
The ghost of lectricity howls in the bones of her face.
Where these visions of johanna have now taken my place.
Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously.
He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously,
And when bringing her name up he speaks of her farewell kiss to me.
Hes sure got a lot of gall to be so useless and all,
Muttering small talk at the wall while Im in the hall.
Oh, how can I explain? its so hard to get on
And these visions of johanna, they kept me up past the dawn.
Inside the museums infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while.
But even mona lisa must have had the highway blues,
You can tell by the way she smiles
See the primitive wallflower freeze.
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze,
Hear the one with the mustache say jeeze, I cant find my knees.
Jewels and binoculars hag from the head of the mule,
But these visions of johanna they make it all seem so cruel.
The peddler now speaks to the countess whos pretending to care for him.
Saying name me someone thats not a parasite and Ill go out
And say a prayer for him.
But like louise always says ya cant look at much can ya man?
As she, herself, prepares for him
And madonna she still has not showed,
We see this empty cage now corrode,
Where her cape of the stage once had flowed,
The fiddler, he now steps to the road,
He writes evrythings been returned which was owed
On the back of the fish truck that loads
While my conscience explodes.
The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain
And these visions of johanna are now all that remain.
song performed by by Grateful Dead
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Visions Of Johanna
Aint it just like the night to play tricks when youre tryin to be so quiet?
We sit here stranded, though were all doin our best to deny it
And louise holds a handful of rain, temptin you to defy it
Lights flicker from the opposite loft
In this room the heat pipes just cough
The country music station plays soft
But theres nothing, really nothing to turn off
Just louise and her lover so entwined
And these visions of johanna that conquer my mind
In the empty lot where the ladies play blindmans bluff with the key chain
And the all-night girls they whisper of escapades out on the d train
We can hear the night watchman click his flashlight
Ask himself if its him or them thats really insane
Louise, shes all right, shes just near
Shes delicate and seems like the mirror
But she just makes it all too concise and too clear
That johannas not here
The ghost of lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of johanna have now taken my place
Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously
He brags of his misery, he likes to live dangerously
And when bringing her name up
He speaks of a farewell kiss to me
Hes sure got a lotta gall to be so useless and all
Muttering small talk at the wall while Im in the hall
How can I explain?
Oh, its so hard to get on
And these visions of johanna, they kept me up past the dawn
Inside the museums, infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while
But mona lisa musta had the highway blues
You can tell by the way she smiles
See the primitive wallflower freeze
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze
Hear the one with the mustache say, jeeze
I cant find my knees
Oh, jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule
But these visions of johanna, they make it all seem so cruel
The peddler now speaks to the countess whos pretending to care for him
Sayin, name me someone thats not a parasite and Ill go out and say a prayer for him
But like louise always says
Ya cant look at much, can ya man?
As she, herself, prepares for him
And madonna, she still has not showed
We see this empty cage now corrode
Where her cape of the stage once had flowed
The fiddler, he now steps to the road
He writes evrythings been returned which was owed
On the back of the fish truck that loads
While my conscience explodes
The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain
And these visions of johanna are now all that remain
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In front of a firing squad
Japie almost burns himself
when he mess some coffee
and it’s still dark,
when at four o’clock one morning
British soldiers arrive
at the Greyling’s farm.
There’s an Afrikaner farm boy
standing against the wall
of a farm house
and English Captain Jack Seeley,
wants to know to where
his father’s Boer commando is going?
Japie Greyling refuses
to say anything about it
and Jack Seeley
order his men,
to aim at an Afrikaner boy.
Six British Martini Henri rifles
are pointed at a ten year old child
and he hears gunlock after gunlock
closing behind a bullet.
I ask you a last time
says the relentless Englishman
and a Boer boy
looks into death,
but still there’s nothing
that he lets out about his people
The British Captain keeps
walking nervously up and down
and the blue eyes
of a Boer boy,
cuts right through him
and the child says
let death then come,
but talk I wont.
All the British soldiers
are astounded by the courage
that comes from an Afrikaner child
and on command,
the rifles are lowered
before they ride away
and Japie Greyling
is left alive.
[References: Historic heroic story of Japie (Jacobus Johannes Cornelis) Greyling during the second Anglo-Boer war. The poem “Japie Greyling” by J.F.E Celliers. The book “Fear and Be Slain” by Jack Seeley.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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The battle of Majuba Hill
With Major General Sir George Pomeroy in command
the Hussars, Gordon Highlanders,60th rifles
and a contingent of the naval brigade,
climbed Majuba hill
and was in battle forced down
the back again.
At dawn the British army
had taken the steep hill
and the Boer commando’s camp
laid on the plain below
and Major General Sir George Pomeroy,
was just a bit to comfortable
with their position on the summit
and the Boers were at their mercy,
or so they thought.
The Boers saw British soldiers
on top of Majuba hill
waving the Union Jack
and under cover,
they started to climb
the steep slopes.
On a February late summer day
the Boer commando
blended with their farming clothes
into the field, into the hill.
Every rock and crevice,
every redoubt and counterscarp
was a natural hiding place
to lay siege on that Majuba hill.
The British infantry wore red jackets
and blue trousers
and white pith helmets on their heads
and was a fine example,
of an invading Super power’s military might.
They thought what damage could a
citizen force militia in jackets,
trousers and slouch hats
with hunting rifles do,
against a empire’s
well trained soldiers?
What they did forget,
was they were facing
a nation of exceptional men
who fought savage men and cruel beasts
to make a living
and every one a great marksman.
In integrity the Boers prayed
and believing in God,
climbed that hill
in broad daylight.
George Pomeroy was dead
shot thought the head
and accurate shots rang out
while fire and movement tactics
turned that battlefield into a slaughtering
and British soldiers died one by one
and tried to flee
down the rear slope.
All of Great Britain’s victories before
never prepared that empire,
for the treatment that it got
from a bunch of hard-bitten farmers
that believed in the power of God
and brandished modern rifles.
[Reference: The battle of Majuba Hill. Battle between the Transvaal (ZAR) republic and Great Britain on 27 February 1881 in South Africa, which won the first Anglo-Boer war. “Three Boer groups were led by Field Cornet Stephanus Roos, Commandant D.J.K. Malan and Commandant Joachim Ferreira against Major General George Pomeroy.” It consisted of about 400-500 Boer farmers in a citizen force militia against 405 British infantry. On the side of the Boers 1 was dead and 5 wounded and of the British 92 were dead (including their General) ,134 wounded and 59 captured.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Believe Me
Alex Russell, Zachary Knighton, Johanna Braddy, Miles Fisher, Sinqua Walls, Max Adler
from Believe Me (2014)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Believe Me [trailer 2]
Alex Russell, Zachary Knighton, Johanna Braddy, Miles Fisher, Sinqua Walls, Max Adler
from Believe Me (2014)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Hopes And Fears
Scars not seen but they are there none the less
The scars are on my heart
The questions in my mind
I wonder if he knows how bad he hurt me
I wonder if he even cares
I wonder if these girls are his
I wonder if they will ever forgive me
I'm so young and my baby girls will grow up in a time of war
I wonder if they will start another draft if this goes on much longer
I'm not a fighter
I don't want to have to fight in a war that isn't mine
I don't want to die in a war of politics
I don't want have to choose between my girls and my country
My girls win every time
I don't want to have to flee my country and never be able to come back
I don't want to use my girls as an excuse as why I don't have any money
I don't want to be on welfare
I don't want to have to be dependent on a man
I don't want to have to depend on any one but myself
I don't want this life
I never have
I wonder if I was destined from the start to lead this life of heartache
I don't want my girls to have a life like I did
But they are already on that road
I have deprived them of a father by not waiting
By not protecting myself
I have started to lead them on a broken road of pain and heartache
I never wanted that for my kids
I have no one but myself to blame
I get that part by now
I wonder if this is all a punishment from god
I wonder if god even cares
I wonder if god abandoned me
It sure feels that way
I hope my babies don't feel the pain that I do
I hope I never have to leave them and deprive them of myself
Their mother
I hope they never feel abandoned like I do
I hope they will never feel unwanted
I hope they don't turn out like me
I hope their lives aren't filled with chaos
Swirling whirling skies of disappointment regret and pain
I hope they never lose their rosy view of the world
I hope they don't have to grow up too fast
I hope they have strength courage and determination
I hope they never back down
I hope they stand up for what they believe in
I hope they can make their lives better than I've made mine
Copyright © Johanna M Stone 2011
poem by Johanna Damon
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The British descended
The British descended
on the Transvaal and Orange Free State
from their island
on the other side of the sea
and in thousands
they came to ruin the land.
The British descended
on the Transvaal and Orange Free State
and from the sea they came
and an entire empire
send its soldiers to destroy,
to pillage and scorch the earth,
to rape, and imprison
the women and children
of the Afrikaner nation.
My great grandfathers rode on horseback to war,
with Christiaan De Wet, Cronje
and De La Rey
and they fought hard pressed,
to drive the British
and soldiers from all her colonies away.
My great grandfathers rode on horseback to war
and landed in prisoner of war camps in St. Helena
and although the second Anglo-Boer war was lost
and the Afrikaner nation paid the highest cost
in the destruction of the land,
the death of men
and the murder of innocent women and children,
a time came
that once more we were free.
My great grandfathers rode on horseback to war,
but one was from and with the enemy
and a highlander was he
and a more decent man
is still hard to find
and one that hated the English
for the dreadfull things that they did,
at times I see the restored Martini Henri rifles
taken from the British
during that bitter war
and the legacy and great spirit,
of my great grandfathers
still stays with me.
poem by Gert Strydom
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Run the Tide
Taylor Lautner, Johanna Braddy, Constance Zimmer, Kenny Johnson, K.C. Clyde, Derek Krantz, Paul Sanchez, Romi Dias
by Rajiv Shah from Run the Tide (2016)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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All I See Is You
Yvonne Strahovski, Blake Lively, Wes Chatham, Danny Huston, Jason Clarke, Ahna O'Reilly, Johanna Wallmeier
from All I See Is You (2016)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Dog Eat Dog
Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe, Magi Avila, Paul Schrader, Melissa Bolona, Louisa Krause, Johanna McGinley, Omar J. Dorsey, Reynaldo Gallegos
by Matthew Wilder from Dog Eat Dog (2016)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Johanna
The flight was short
But the touching affections
Left behind on this Earth
Were forever stamped
In the hearts you touched
While living with us.
Three little ones
Who will be forever
Missing you days and nights
And who would carry your image,
For you continue living
Through all of them!
Two sad butterflies
Dressed in Black and Red
Carried the message
Of your departure!
Sweet and fun memories
Will enlighten our lives
And those precious ones
You left behind!
The Mighty One
Will be welcoming you
In the Heavens!
Rest In Peace dear Johanna!
©All Rights Reserved-2012
poem by Romeo Della Valle
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Cardboard Boxer
Thomas Haden Church, Terrence Howard, Boyd Holbrook, Rhys Wakefield, Marlo Thomas, David Henrie, Macy Gray, Johanna Braddy
by Knate Lee from Cardboard Boxer (2016)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Troll Hunter
Otto Jespersen, Hans Morten Hansen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Johanna Morck, Knut Nærum, Robert Stoltenberg, Glenn Erland Tosterud
by Andre Ovredal from The Troll Hunter (2010)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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The Collection
Christopher McDonald, Josh Stewart, Erin Way, Daniel Sharman, Johanna Braddy, Lee Tergesen, Navi Rawat, Andre Royo, Brandon Molale, Justin Mortelliti, Shannon Kane
from The Collection (2012)
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Blockhouses had been erected right over the country
Blockhouses had been erected right over the country,
farms had been entered and burnt to the ground,
Livestock and animals had been slaughtered
and women and children were rounded up
and interned into death camps.
Young boys
were set against white walls
and firing squads
was set against them
and a super power
clenched its fist around this country
and stood gigantic
against every Boer farmer.
l’Envoi
That time will be forever black
in history
with the misdeeds of the British
that is well known
and the ruination of a nation, arousing from it
where women and children perished as targets
at the commands of Horatio Herbert Kitchener.
[Note: My own great grandmother died in a British concentration camp and my great grandfather was sent by the British to St. Helena as a prisoner of war and as a result of this, my grandfather(Gert Strydom) grew up in a orphanage.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Love Me Again, or Love Me Not?
I thought I could trust you with my heart.
But you left me out like forgotten items in a shopping cart.
Once bought, and ready to use, left to rot in the parking lot.
The sun shines, isn't it suppose to bring happiness to us, instead of making us hot?
Maybe this is too big of a shot, but will you love me again, or love me not?
poem by Johanna Kortman
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