Charles Reznikoff

Seamus Cooney, ed. The Poems of Charles Reznikoff, 1918-1975 . Boston: David R. Godine, 2005. 445 p.

I had not heard of Charles Reznikoff (1894-1976) when I picked up this volume, but his poetry is a find. Born to Russian Jews in New York City, Reznikoff wrote and published poetry, over many decades, that captures both the tang of urban America and the urgency of American Judaism. His styles are various: He writes sparely haunting haiku (“We heard no step in the hall./ She came / sudden as a rainbow.”); autobiographical vignettes; pungent paraphrases of the Old Testament and narratives of ancient and modern Jewish history (such as “The Fifth Book of the Maccabees”); the sights and sounds and textures of New York; the death of his mother. All of it is written with care, precision, and warmth. The volume not only collects Reznikoff’s poetry, but provides a chronology of his life and extensive notes.