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Isaac Babel
Describes Babel's childhood as a Jew in Russia and examines his literary development and achievements
118 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1972
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June 25, 2015
Another in the Ungar Modern Lit Monograph series. I found this a bit more difficult than most in the series. I have never even heard the author's name, much less any single piece of work. It angered me more than anything: Soviet repression and manipulation of art. And the fact that they arrested him and he died while in custody? Vikings, Czars, and Presidiums: their government never stops killing them.
I broke most of my rules here. The only structure here is numeric, derived from the date of his arrest: 15 May 1939. The first stanza has 6 lines of 6 words (1+5); the second stanza has 5 lines of 5 words (May=5th month); and the last stanza has 4 lines of 4 words (1+9+3+9=22, 2+2 = 4).
On the night of 15 May 1939
(The arrest and subsequent death of Isaac Babel, son of Odessa)
His red horses were then silenced.
Rejecting the creed of his ancestors,
unsure if art should be regarded
as an angel or a demon,
he passed on Party and Race
as dung-heaps, as brothels, as crooks.
At least he could write
of sex and of prostitution;
no meddling Archbishops to interfere.
The censors monitored his silence:
That was his great crime.
And Ukraine still bleeds
seventy-four years after word-smithing,
with proper Soviet closure,
Cause of death unspecified.
I broke most of my rules here. The only structure here is numeric, derived from the date of his arrest: 15 May 1939. The first stanza has 6 lines of 6 words (1+5); the second stanza has 5 lines of 5 words (May=5th month); and the last stanza has 4 lines of 4 words (1+9+3+9=22, 2+2 = 4).
On the night of 15 May 1939
(The arrest and subsequent death of Isaac Babel, son of Odessa)
His red horses were then silenced.
Rejecting the creed of his ancestors,
unsure if art should be regarded
as an angel or a demon,
he passed on Party and Race
as dung-heaps, as brothels, as crooks.
At least he could write
of sex and of prostitution;
no meddling Archbishops to interfere.
The censors monitored his silence:
That was his great crime.
And Ukraine still bleeds
seventy-four years after word-smithing,
with proper Soviet closure,
Cause of death unspecified.
Displaying 1 of 1 review