Essay on Jacob Glatstein’s Yiddish Poetry

Running Head: ESSAY ON JACOB GLATSTEIN’S YIDDISH POETRY
Essay on Jacob Glatstein’s Yiddish poetry
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ESSAY ON JACOB GLATSTEIN’S YIDDISH POETRY
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Introduction
“No poetry, of course, is ever exactly the same as speech that the poet talks and hears, but it
has to be in such a relation to speech of his time that the listener or reader can say ‘that is
how I should talk if I could talk poetry”
-T.S. Eliot, “The Music of
Poetry”
The voice of Jacob Glatstein is significant and important because of the imperative
nature of his voice which has established the command in his voice. This particular style does
not await the reply or response of anyone, instead, it stresses on the introspective nature of
the poetic voice that Glatstein followed. In fact, he defined the command form that is much
suited for Inzikhistn (The Introspectionists) as those who “took their subject the wide world
as it reflected in the poem.” He is one of those poets who takes up the crucial task of speaking
to the world and for the world. Best described in his own words, he is the poet-prophet who
“stands before the dark riddle and he either grinds his teeth or bows his head helplessly in
resignation and humility. Long ago, a prophetic word flashed forth, speaking about the future
or the past, illuminating the present. Today prophecy has left us; only the poet remains. In our
time, when so many millions have been slaughtered, when so many lost souls seek some
improvement in their lot, when science stands bewildered, there remains for the poet only his
poetry, only his art as a lantern in the dark corridors of life’s labyrinth.”
Discussion
The Yiddish writer as well as critic, Jacob Glatstein was known to be fond of retelling
the fact that Yiddish writers were already established as world writers. It is regardless of the
fact that their works have been translated into various languages or not, or the size of
audience which he addresses through the help of his words and poetry (Zaritt). It does not

ESSAY ON JACOB GLATSTEIN’S YIDDISH POETRY
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even matter whether he has any audience in the first place. One of the most unique aspects of
his poetry and his nature usage of voice is the fact that he remained focus on his claim that
Yiddish poetry has always deserved a place in the world literature. There is also a sense of
paradox that is involved in the evaluation of his self-worth, more significantly so since he
was one of those writers who had buried himself in the language of the Yiddish along with its
multitude of guises and manifestations. His lack of audience owed to the fact that his prayers
went unanswered, since his God’s position has been diminished and has turned into an
imperative. A baby god who lacks the power to make any of the prayers some true (Zaritt).
Glatstein’s world has been wiped out of its audience, and along with it, his hope that he had
so carefully preserved for a sense of universality. He had been left behind as the only
audience who should become the spokesperson for the nation that is dead. It has dissolved his
sense of the self, and eroded him memories. What he produces in the form of poetry is a kind
of internal monologue that takes place between two Yiddish people. However, the audience is
somewhat a ghost who exists in thin air and will continue to do so for the rest of the eternity.
However, there would be no answer from his audience. The emergence of the command form
in his early creations are to some extent vexed, yet manages to assert with pride of the Jewish
male patriarch about his individuality that undergoes a change in the Holocaust. This process
also finds a way to register his loss that took place in the sense of the self (Zaritt). He also
talks about the silence of the rest of the world when Hitler’s power kept growing by leaps and
bounds and he does so with a sense of mockery and satire. However, it might seem that in a
very twisted manner, his return to the ghetto was a form of seclusion that he had imposed on
themselves, or even a certain sense of defeat that stated the fact that after the end of the war,
he had lost the chance of returning back to the ghetto. As a form of retaliation, he refused to
take the high rode of the universal self, and instead chose a small lyric poem which was
obviously distorted by numerous translations, and imposition of nationalistic fervour. He