The Ghetto, and Other Poems: An Annotated Edition

Long forgotten due to her gender and left-wing politics, Lola Ridge is a key work of American modernism that has been neglected for seventy-five years. Her book "The Ghetto and Other Poems" was a literary sensation when it was first published in 1918, praised for its passion, accuracy of images, beauty, richness, and incisiveness of epithet. This critical edition seeks to recover the attention of her masterpiece and offers all the background and context needed for a rich, informed reading.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 170 pages
Publication date: 17 January 2023
Publisher: Fordham University Press

This significant but overlooked piece of American modernism presents a singular poetic engagement with the Jewish communities on New York's Lower East Side. Long overshadowed by her gender and left-wing affiliations,Lola Ridge is now being resurrected and celebrated alongside esteemed contemporaries such as Hart Crane,William Carlos Williams,and Marianne Moore,all of whom were familiar with her work and held it in high regard. During her lifetime, Ridge was widely regarded as one of the preeminent poets in America, yet tragically, after her passing in 1941, she and her artistic legacy were effectively obscured for the subsequent seventy-five years. Her book, "The Ghetto and Other Poems," stands as a pivotal work of American modernism, yet it has unjustly endured neglect for far too long. When it was first published in 1918, in an abridged form in "The New Republic," followed by a full publication by B. W. Huebsch five months later, "The Ghetto and Other Poems" erupted into a literary sensation. In a review for "Poetry Magazine," the poet Alfred Kreymbourg lavished praise upon "The Ghetto," applauding its "sheer passion, deadly accuracy of versatile images, beauty, richness, and incisiveness of epithet, unfolding of adventures, portraiture of emotion and thought, pageantry of pushcarts—the whole lifting, falling, stumbling, mounting to a broad, symphonic rhythm." Louis Untermeyer, in his writing for "The New York Evening Post," described "The Ghetto" as simultaneously intimate and epic in scope. He noted that it is adorned with surprising yet never strained or irrelevant images, radiating with a vibrant color that is both barbaric and exotic, yet deeply rooted in the local surroundings of Grand Street. The lengthy title poem serves as a comprehensive and empathetic portrayal of life within the Jewish Ghetto of New York's Lower East Side, with a particular focus on the hardships and unwavering resilience of women. The subsequent section, "Manhattan," delves into the urban landscape of New York City, offering a vivid and evocative description of the city's bustling streets and vibrant energy.

Dimension: 203 x 127 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781531500900