KENNETH SHERMAN
611
Fratricide)
and Franklin Litte!
(The Crucifixion of the Jews),
who hold
Christian teaching accountable for sowing the seeds of the Holocaust.
Hecht's Yolek is Jewish; yet in another profound reversal he has, by
interrupting our meal, become Christ. In two of the Gospels, Mark and
Luke, the resurrected Jesus appears during the disciples' meal. In Mark,
He "upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of hearts"; in
Luke, He asks the "terrified and affrighted" disciples "why are ye trou–
bled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?" Yolek, the murdered
Jewish child, has in spirit returned as the discomfiting Hebrew prophet,
reminding us of our complicity in his Crucifixion.
"The Book of Yolek" is not an anti-Christian poem. As literature must,
it shuns dogma while leading us to a more complex sense of the Real. The
poem rightly holds Christianity accountable for its role in the Holocaust;
yet by turning Yolek into Christ, Hecht reminds Christianity of its moral
imperative. The poem exposes the hypocrisy and eruptive barbarism of
Western civilization; yet its success as a work of art is an affirmation. Its
unadorned language, its restrained voice of moral authority, and its strict
pattern bring home (to use one of the poem's end words) the tragedy of
a small child. By implication, Hecht is imploring us to inquire after
today's Yoleks. It seems to me that he has effgfectively countered Adorno,
so that we might say, "After Auschwitz it is necessary to write poetry."
The Academy of American Poets
Poetry Audio Archive
Here
is
a selection from otlr growing list offifty recordings ofpoetry readings. Tapes cost
$10.00
each, domestic postage incltlded.
o
W.
H. Auden
(1964)
o
John Berryman
&
Robert Lowell
(1963)
o
Louise Bogan
(1968)
o
Kamau Brathwaite
&
Allen Ginsberg
(1994)
o
Joseph Brodsky
(1980)
o
Amy Clampitt
(1987)
o Lucille Clifton
&
Gwendolyn Brooks
(1983)
o
Rita Dove
&
Rosanna Warren
(1988)
o
Louise Glilck
(1981/92)
o
Robert Hayden
(1976)
o
Randall Jarrell
(1964)
o
Kenneth Koch
(1969/94)
o
Yusef Komunyakaa
&
Sharon Olds
(1993)
o Stanley Kunitz
(1991)
o Philip Levine
(197811991)
o
Audre Lorde
(1977)
o
Heather McHugh
&
Gerald Stern
(1992)
o
W.
S. Merwin
(1966)
o
Robert Pinsky
(1988/92)
o
Adrienne Rich
&
Charles Wright
(1997)
o Charles Simic
(1974/77)
o Derek Walcott
(1964)
o James Wright
(1964/78)
To request a catalog, order by phone with a Visa or Mastercard, or pay by check, please
contact the Academy at:
THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS; POETRY AUDIO ARCHIVE
588 BROADWAY, SUITE 1203; NEW YORK, NY 10012
PHONE: (2.12) 2.74-0343, FAX: (2.12) 274-942.7
