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Warding Off Chaos: Repetition and Obsession in the Poetry of Glatshteyn, Halpern, and Manger

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2009

Janet Hadda
Janet Hadda
Affiliation:
University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, Calif
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Extract

For as long as I have been acquainted with them, the poems in which the above lines occur have held a peculiar fascination for me. With their rhythmic refrains, Glatshteyn′s “Der Rayzeman” (“The Travelman”), Halpern′s “Der Gasnpoyker” (“The Street Drummer”), and Manger′s “Eynzam” (“Lonely”) are lodged in my mind,1 cropping up periodically in almost–and in the case of “Eynzam,” literally–musical form. Yet it is only recently that I have come to see a special connection between these three diverse works. The present article explores this connection. Specifically, I wish to address the function of repetition and show how a much-used poetic device simultaneously points to a psychological realm otherwise easy to ignore.

Type
Articles
Information
AJS Review , Volume 13 , Issue 1-2 , Spring 1988 , pp. 81 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Jewish Studies 1988

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References

1. Please see Appendix for working translations of the poems in their entirety. The translations are my own.

2. I am referring here to a famous musical setting of “Eynzam.” Incidentally, Dr. Jonathan Boyarin has called my attention to the fact that there is also a musical rendition of “Der Gasnpoyker” which he heard in Paris, but this is not part of my personal experience.

3. For a post-Freudian discussion of repetition that makes use of literary examples as well, see Thorner, Hans A., “On Repetition, Its Relationship to the Depressive Position,” International Journal ofPsycho-Analysis 66 (1985): 231–236. As its title implies, this article is based on the theories of Melanie Klein. I cite it as an example of interest in the problem of repetitive behavior, but I cannot recommend its findings as especially useful. In contrast, see John Hollander, “Breaking into Song,” in Lyric Poetry Beyond New Criticism, ed. Chaviva Hosek and Patricia Parker (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985), pp. 73–89. Hollander presents a lively and lucid commentary on some of the deeper meanings and effects of the poetic refrain. Specifically, he seeks to explore the ways in which refrains serve more than a schematic function. I am in agreement with Hollander′s formulation that “Poetic refrain starts out by troping the literalness of the repetition, by raising a central parabolic question for all textual refrain: Does repeating something at intervals make it important, or less so?” (p. 75; emphasis Hollander′s). My point in this essay is that the repetitions I discuss make what is said more important, rather than less so, but in a particular way. That is, they signal an underlying malaise without explicitly describing it. As the poem progresses, the repetitions cause the reader to focus on the urgency of the malaise and to fill in the meanings that are implied.Google Scholar

4. For a clear presentation of the discrepancies between Freud′s metapsychological and technical theories, see Klein, George S., “Freud′s Two Theories of Sexuality,” in Psychoanalytic Theory: An Exploration of Essentials (New York: International Universities Press, 1976), pp. 72–120.Google Scholar

5. Winnicott, D. W., “Further Thoughts on Babies as Persons” (1947), in The Child and the Outside World (London: Tavistock, 1957), p. 137.Google Scholar

6. For a concise outline of Kohut′s theoretical framework, see Kohut, Heinz and Wolf, Ernest S., “The Disorders of the Self and Their Treatment: An Outline,” International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 59 (1978): 413–425.Google Scholar

7. In order to ensure confidentiality, I have changed certain identifying details in these vignettes.

8. “Der Rayzeman,” in Gedenklider [Memorial poems], (New York: Farlag yidisher kemfer, 1943), pp. 19–20.Google Scholar

9. Hadda, Janet, Yankev Glatshteyn (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980), pp.62–82.Google Scholar

10. Daytshmerish is defined by Uriel Weinreich as “too much like German (said of Modern German words or phrases sporadically used in Yid[dish] but not accepted by cultivated stylists),” in Weinreich, Uriel, Modern English-Yiddish Yiddish-English Dictionary (New York: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968), p. 136. Glatshteyn′s skill revolves around his ability to create.forms that mimic this pompous and questionable style without actually employing its forms.Google Scholar

11. Winnicott, D. W., “Creativity and its Origins,” in Playing and Reality (New York: Basic Books, 1971), p. 68.Google Scholar

12. “Der Gasnpoyker,” In nyu york (New York: Farlag vinkl, 1919; reissued New York: Farlag matones, 1954), pp. 35–36.Google Scholar

13. “Eynzam,” in Lid un balade (New York: Itsik-manger-komitet, 1952), pp. 183–184.Google Scholar