Poetry
Hath Not a Jew...
A. M. Klein · 1940
Synopsis
Poems from the late twenties and the thirties, moving from hope to unease. The book opens with lively Jewish sages; then come the Hasidic tales of childhood, the inheritance of a father's books, Reb Levi Yitschok who calls out to a silent God. Spinoza polishes his lenses in Amsterdam, under the anathema of his own people. A medieval tapestry shows the terror of an approaching pogrom; other pieces speak of the Hebron massacre and dream of peace between Jews and Arabs, or denounce the indifference of the West in the face of the pro-Nazi regimes.
Context
Its author's first book, published in New York in 1940 after a delay owing to the difficulties of publishing in the Depression years; several of the pieces had first appeared in Jewish periodicals. The title takes up the opening of a line of Shylock's in The Merchant of Venice, cut off before the question. Ludwig Lewisohn hailed in this book the first contribution of authentic Jewish poetry to the English language.
Who it is for
A learned collection, full of Hebrew and Yiddish words and Hasidic allusions; the edition of the complete poems annotates them.
Prizes and reception
Its author, awarded the Governor General's Prize in 1948 for another collection, is regarded by the Canadian Encyclopedia as one of the country's greatest poets.
Sources for this page 11
The pages consulted to check this page.