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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/58095/full/58095/modern-poets-provide-insight-into-biblical-text/ <br /><br /> <b>Modern poets provide insight into biblical text</b> <br /> Thursday, May 20, 2010 | by rabbi rachel esserman <br /><br /><p>The Bible has inspired paintings, sculptures, stain-glassed windows, novels, screenplays and poetry. All offer interpretations of the biblical text, filling in details not given in the original; for example, how someone looked or felt.</p> <p>At times, these artistic representations speak as much of the time period in which the artist or author is living as they do the intent of the biblical text.</p> <p><img alt="Apoems" class="left" height="332" src="/images/uploads/y_photos_2010/ze05_21_10/Apoems.jpg" title="Apoems" width="216" />In his recently re-released “Modern Poems on the Bible: An Anthology” (The Jewish Publication Society), editor David Curzon collects 20th-century poetry about the Bible, comparing these works to Midrash (rabbinic commentary on the biblical text), and showing how the poets and the ancient rabbis approach the text in similar ways.</p> <p>Curzon does an excellent job of explaining how Midrash works, using examples from different midrashic collections and then comparing these selections to the poetry featured.</p> <p>Particularly impressive were his two examples rephrasing poems into midrashic format, allowing readers to better understand how the poems seek to explicate the biblical text. He does note one important difference between the ancient interpretations and modern ones: “For the rabbis, the biblical text is central and, where puzzling, in need of explanation by comparisons and parables drawn from daily life. But for contemporary poets it is usually daily life that is troubling and the biblical text that provides a comparison and clarification.”</p> <p>The poetry selected for inclusion focuses on one short selection from the Bible, since Curzon wants readers to see “the entire poem as a response to such a text.” To show the connection between the two, “Modern Poems on the Bible” first presents the appropriate biblical verses, followed by the poem or poems that comment on that selection. Written by Jewish and non-Jewish poets from America, Europe and Israel, the poetry features a wide variety of styles, from traditional rhyming works to free verse.</p> <p>The collection contains some wonderful poetry. The funny “The Story of Abraham” by Alicia Suskin Ostriker takes a close look at the fine print of the covenant between God and the first patriarch. A more serious note is sounded in Wilfred Owen’s “The Parable of the Old Man and the Young,” which speaks as much to the sacrifice of life during World War I as it does to the binding of Isaac.</p> <p>The covenant at Sinai is explored in two powerful poems translated from Yiddish: “Dead Men Don’t Praise God” by Jacob Glatstein and “God of Mercy” by Kadya Molodovsky. Both works connect the giving of the Torah with the Holocaust, showing the potential cost of being Jewish. Several poems based on the Psalms were also excellent.</p> <p>Not all poems work as Midrash. Some left me wondering if I was missing information that would have helped me better understand the work or connect to its meaning.</p> <p>Others did serve to explore gaps found in the biblical text. For example, Rainer Maria Rilke’s moving “The Death of Moses” gives details of Moses’ last moments not found in the Torah. In the poem, Moses resists dying until:</p> <p>“the Lord, dragging half of the heaven behind him, came hurling down in person and made up a bed from the mountain; laid the old man out. From its orderly dwelling, he summoned the soul; and spoke of much they had shared in the course of an immeasurable friendship.”</p> <p>Only then is Moses’ soul “satisfied. Admitted enough had been done, it was finished.”</p> <p>Poetry lovers will enjoy reading Curzon’s work as a chance to explore this poetic sub-genre. Those interested in the biblical text will find “Modern Poems on the Bible” different from the average commentary, one that challenges them to visit the biblical world with contemporary eyes. These poems open a window not only to the Torah, but to the poets’ hearts.</p> <p><strong><br />“Modern Poems on the Bible: An Anthology”</strong> edited by David Curzon (384 pages, The Jewish Publication Society, $35)</p>

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