The Denver Jewish news. [volume] (Denver, Colo.) 1915-1925, 1921-05-18
The Jewish Spirit Upper
most at Present Time
PRESENT AGE REFLECTS JEW
ISH SPIRIT MORE THAN ANY
OTHERs-LOUIS UNTERMEYER

The present age reflects the Jew
ish spirit more than any other period
in the history of the world has ever
done" declared Louis Untermeyer,
poet and critic during recent lecture
at Chicago.
''This is true, and not only in the
realm of poetry, but in all fields of
art endeavor." he continued.
'The Jew has become race con-
scious. Recent conditions and events
have intensified the race consciousness
of the Jew. Thus the Jew i'm art is
now at his best, as any creature is at
his best when he is tapping the vital
springs of his life. When the Jew
unconsciously draws of the rich foun-
thin of Judaism it is then that he
expresses himself most completely and
fully.
In contemporary literature and poe
try there is being manifested n GER
tain truly Semitic strain. A troubled
energy, cropping dissatisfaction and
an unrelenting analytical scrutiny
mark the spirit of current literature.
And this spirit is truly Semitic.
IN fiction the realm of Fanny
Hurst, Anzia Yezierska, Montague
Glass and Abe Cahan has given
decided color to modern literature.
James oppenheim is singer of the
exalted type. He is man in the
middle twcnties. In his book, "Songs
Of the New Age is the spirit of Walt
Whitman mingled with the Bible. It
is an interview with n god who has
taken lessons in psych0analysis from
Whitman.
"To an entirely different type of
poetry belongs Alter Brody, young
man in the early twenties, of Rus
sian-Jewish parentagc. He is more
Interested in the delinentiOn of por-
traits, in the tracing of pictures. In
his collection of poems, a Family AL
bum," one is given u glimpse OF
American life as seen against bac&-
ground -ef Russian memories. - .; :
"Ilis songs are filled with lamenta-
tions. There is restraint also. Out
of his desire to give only pictures one
gets from his work the spirit of the
Weltschmertz.
zone might also refer to the works
of Maxwell Bodenheim. Franklin p.
Adams, Babette Deutsch and Elias
Lieberman as Important"
Mr.. Untermeyer referred glowingly
to the poetry of Florence Ripper
Frank, young Jewess. Speaking of
her he said: "Her deepest sensibili-
ties lie in her backgrounds in a city
of the Middle West. Amy Lowell has
commended her work for its unrelcnt-
ing honesty and austerity.
"There is another poet in the Jew
ish ranks of whom 1 would say some
thing. But 1 feel little reluctant.
You see. she is relative of mine.
But still don't see why l should feel
that way since she is only relative
Sy marriage. She is my wife, Jean
Starr Untermeyer."
t"Whom do you consider the great
est poet that ever lived?" This was
the first question presented to Mr.. Un-
termeyer at the close of his lecture.
"King Solomon" was his prompt
reply. 81 consider the Song OF
Songs as the finest poetry ever writ
ten. My second choice Is David of
the Psalms and my third coice is
Heinrich Heiue.'"
what poem do you regard as
your best?" This was the second ques-
tion.
"Well. you know, every poet con-
siders the last poem he has written
his best poem.
81 want to make this point Mr.
Untermeyer said. in conclusion. 'The
poet of Jewish extraction differs just
us essentially in his expression, as the
average jew differs in his facial char
acteristics from his fellow men. The
idiom of James Oppenheim is purely
hymnal. But one must remember that
it is the age that makes the poet ana
not the poet the age"
r~mUD Du,SruNrC CUCNS nE> THE