Jewish American Poetry: Poems, Commentary, and Reflections

by Eric Murphy Selinger (Editor), Jonathan N. Barron (Editor)

From Emma Lazarus to Allen Ginsberg, Jewish American poets have long been a presence in American poetry. Once a group of isolated voices, their number and range has grown in the last 50 years to reveal a distinct American poetic tradition. The first complete guide to the diversity and vitality of this tradition, Jewish American Poetry features poems by 26 leading poets (some written especially for this volume) followed by the poets' own reflections on the Jewish and American aspects of their work. The second half of the book gathers ten wide-ranging essays on the history and scope of Jewish American poetry, offering an unprecedented introduction to its Yiddish and Sephardic heritage, its distinctive poetics of commentary, its Kabbalists, its feminists, and more. With a general introduction that places this literature in the contexts of both Jewish culture and American poetry, Jewish American Poetry opens the door to a much-needed discussion of the significance of the Jewish voice in American literature.

Genres: Poetry, Judaism

360 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Poetry Of A Diverse People

This book is an anthology of the works of 26 contemporary Jewish American poets. The format of the book, however, is somewhat unusual. Each of the poets in the book chose a single poem to be included and followed the poem with an essay or "commentary" about it. The commentaries themselves vary in form from a whimsical four line verse by Charles Bernstein to lengthy essays.

The poems vary in styles from very traditional verse to modern free poetry. As to be expected, the poets bring different convictions and perspectives to their appointed task of illustrating the variety and the purpose underling "Jewish American Poetry." As more than one poet and commentator points out, each of these words themselves will bear lengthy exploration: what is "American" what is "Jewish", possibly most importantly "what is poetry and why write it or read it". Many of the poems are reflections on Jewish tradition, family, the Holocaust, the pressures and challenges of modern materialistic secular (again, what is that?) culture, and, an apparently never-ending topic of debate, feminism. Women and their varied issues within Judaism and well represented in the choice of poets. The poets and commentaries vary widely in quality. My favorites include the poems of Anthony Hecht, Maxine Kumin, C.K. Williams, and Eleanor Winer though each reader will make his or her own choice.

In addition to the poems and commentaries, the book includes a good introduction by the editors and several essays. The essays vary in subject matter and quality. I found very helpful the essays by Steven Rubin and Michael Heller on the history of American poetry in the 20th Century and how the poetry written by American Jews both comments upon and takes issue with the broader trends in American poetry. Some of the feminist oriented essays were too shrill and tangentially related to the poems in the book for my liking and were also, perhaps, overly technical for people coming to poetry for the first time. There were essays on the Jewish mystical tradition, particularly the Shekhina or feminine aspect of God, but these essays seemed to have little directly to do with the poetry offered in the book. The essay on Yiddish poetry and the essays on the perils and virtues of translation were very good.

I would have rather seen more than one poem by each of the poets in the collection. As it is, the representation of each poet is too thin to give much an idea of the tenor of their work. As a related point, there is too much talk in the book and not enough poetry. The essays are useful to a degree, but I suggest that this book be read in conjunction with Steven Rubin's (the author of a good historical essay in the book) anthology of Jewish American poetry, "Telling and Remembering", which includes a much more generous selection of poets and poems and less in the way of gratuitous or questionable essaying.

Robin Friedman

[Ned Balbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Barron’s and Eric Murphy Selinger’s Jewish American Poetry is that rare anthology: a thoughtful blend of art and scholarship, balanced and inclusive. In one essay, Steven J. Rubin writes, “Jewish poetry is defined most simply as poetry that is written by Jews about Jewish subjects or themes,” but as he also shows, this gathering of verse and viewpoints belies and complicates that simple definition. The anthology divides into two parts: the first offers a miscellany of twenty-six poems and poets, each followed by the author’s commentary in prose, while the second section brings together scholarly reflections on literary history, strategies of reading, and the diversity of Jewish American verse.

Particularly admirable is Barron and Selinger’s refusal to privilege any particular poetic school or style: John Hollander follows “At the New Year” with a carefully argued essay on the influence of Judaic law and text on his own work; but so, too, does Charles Bernstein offer the following reflection, quoted in its entirety, on the subject of his own poem: “But is it Jewish?/--I think, probably, maybe so/But it could also be not Jewish/--Exactly.”

With formalist and language poets housed under the same roof, along with a broad spectrum in between, Barron and Selinger’s volume recognizes and encourages a diversity of views and voices. And the editors’ choices convincingly bear out their position: from Marilyn Hacker to Anthony Hecht, from Bob Perelman to Eleanor Wilner and Jaqueline Osherow, the voices here are vital, lively, and essential.