Poetry

Tuesday Jan 15

by

Reading all evening

Man . by Sir John Davis

I know my soul hath power to know all things,
Yet she is blind and ignorant in all:
I know I’m one of Nature’s little kings,
Yet to the least and vilest things am thrall.

I know my life’s a pain and but a span;
I know my sense is mock’d in everything;
And, to conclude, I know myself a Man –
Which is proud and yet a wretched thing.

Matt’s Note:

This poem is by John Davies. (I originally transcribed it as Davis, but on closer inspection it looks like Papa wrote it correctly.)

Tuesday Jan 22

by

Light

A Poem by
Francis William Bourdillon
———————–
The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
with the dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

—————-

Matt’s Notes

Papa has clearly not shaken the wistful, reflective mood triggered by his Hebrew birthday and the arrival of his niece’s wedding photo on the previous day. You need only read this poem a couple of times to understand his mood.

————

Call for research help

It’s about to get harder for me to spend as much time as I’d like on research for this project. That’s why I’m asking you, my legions of readers — and make no mistake, your numbers are so vast that to keep count takes almost all of my fingers — for help.

I’ve posted a page on this site called “Cry For Help” with a list of the many people, places, organizations, musical references, events and details of New York life that appear in Papa’s diary. If you know about or are interested in any of these subjects, please write to me at papasdiary ‘at’ gmail.com or post comments about them. If you’d really like to dig in to a subject that might require ongoing research or collaboration, let me know and I’ll set up a collaborative document for us to work on.

I’ve added the list of subjects below, but it’ll always be available on the “Cry For Help” page of this site.

Note: If you want to delve into anything under a “some information already collected” heading, please let me know and I’ll share with you what I’ve got.

——————————–

Organizations:

Total mysteries:

  • David Wolpohn Club
  • Downtown Zionist Club
  • Holland Belgium Club
  • Jewish Students Club
  • Judea Insurance Company
  • Kessler Zion Club
  • Kinereth Camp (probably a B’nai Zion camp in Borough Park)

Some information already collected:

  • B’nai Zion (a.k.a. Order Sons of Zion)
  • Bar Kochba camp of B’nai Zion
  • Hebrew Free Loan Society
  • Keren Hayesod
  • Montefiore Home (later hospital)
  • Tikwaith Yehuda club
  • Zionist Organization of America
  • Information or artifacts and photos relating to Jewish fraternal organizations in general

People (many names are incomplete in the diary, but most of these people would be affiliated with B’nai Zion, Keren Hayesod or the Zionist Organization of America):

Total mysteries:

  • “Rabbi Cook”
  • “Mr. Graf”
  • Rabbi David Horowitz
  • Leibel Krebs (described as “a legendary figure from the old country”)
  • “Dr. Schecter”
  • “Dr. Thon”
  • And a ZOA organizer mysteriously named “Blitz”

Some information already collected:

  • Joseph Bluestone
  • David Blaustien
  • Abraham Goldberg
  • Arthur Ruppin
  • “Judge Strahl”
  • Maurice Samuel
  • “Mr. Zeldin”

President Calvin Coolidge

  • Relationships with Zionism and labor
  • February 12 speech on radio
  • February 22 speech on radio
  • Radio announcement of reelection on November 4

Places

Total mysteries:

  • Boisy (?) Hotel
  • Café Royal
  • Malick’s Restaurant
  • Regina Mansion
  • Snyatyn Synagogue
  • Spring Valley, New York — Jewish summer colonies or other Jewish presence

Some information already collected:

  • Pennsylvania Hotel

Movies and Movie Theaters

Total mysteries:

  • Academy of Music
  • “Song of Love”
  • “White Sister”
  • Lists of releases playing in New York for each month of 1924

Some information already collected:

  • Capitol Theatre
  • Clinton Theatre
  • “Woman of Paris”

Sports

Some information already collected:

  • Abe Goldstein (a professional boxer; won a title fight in 1924)
  • 1924 New York Yankees
  • 1924 New York Giants
  • 1924 Brooklyn Robins (a.k.a. “Dodgers”)

Leisure

General and specific information needed:

  • Central Park in the 20’s, esp. scenes of people rowing
  • Coney Island of the 20’s (overall experience, transportation, summer rental lockers)

Music (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

  • “Drigo’s Serendade”
  • Eastern European Folk tunes that would have been played in immigrant-oriented Radio in 1924
  • Gypsy String Orchestra (particularly their radio presence in the 1920’s)
  • “Gypsy Chardash”
  • “Indian Love Lyrics” (?)
  • Kessler’s Theater
  • “Kreuzer Sonata” (at Kessler’s theater on 10/9/24)
  • “Rubenstein’s Romance”
  • “Shubert’s Waltz op 64#2”
  • “Sleeping Beauty
  • “Straus’s Waltz, Artist’s Dream”
  • “Tosca”

Opera (history, clips, general background, 1924 prevailing opinion, reviews or performances and recordings):

  • “Cavalleria rusticana” (March 8th Performance)
  • “Carmen” (December 4th performance at the Met)
  • “Le Roi de Lahore” (March 26th at the Met)
  • L’Cock D’or (heard on radio march 30)
  • L’Oracolo” (heard on radio march 30)
  • Madame Butterfly” (November 22nd performance)
  • “Martha” (December 5th performance)
  • “Mefistofele” (with Chaliapin, November 24 performance)
  • “Pagliacci (March 8th Performance)
  • “Tannhauser” (November 5th at the Met)
  • General History of the Met, the New York Opera scene, and what the Opera experience would have been like for cash-strapped immigrants

Radio events and history:

  • 1924 Democratic convention coverage radio coverage
  • November 4 Election returns coverage
  • November 5 Coolidge reelection announcement
  • 1924 Democratic convention coverage, esp. June 26, June 30, July 8
  • April 14 Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony
  • Radio Station WEAF
  • WNYC history esp. early broadcasts in July and August

Lifestyle:

  • Cars (Photos and information regarding cars available to immigrants in the 1920’s)
  • Writing instruments (Photos of pens and pencils used in the 1920’s)
  • Telephones (usage and technology in 1924, images of private phones in 1920’s)
  • Public transportation (trolley and subway history, maps, fare information, usage in 1920’s)

Saturday May 31

by

Death (by John Donne)

Death be not proud though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:
For those whom thou thinkest thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;
And soonest our best men with thee do go —
Rest of their bones and souls delivery!
Thou’rt slave to fate, chance, Kings and desperate men
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke. Why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we woke eternally,
And Death shall be no more; Death thou shalt die!

————————–

Matt’s Notes

Papa has tilted back and forth over the past few days as the urge to give in to despair over his father’s death has attempted to erode the integrity of his essentially optimistic, altruistic character. He has written, movingly, of his last moment with his father; he has suffered a bout of self-pity, but he has also countered with a surge of resolve; and today, he shows the clearest sign yet of his desire to master his grief, exploring and challenging death itself with the help of John Donne.

I don’t pretend to have any scholarly knowledge of Donne’s work (when I saw the T.V. adaptation of the memoir “Death Be Not Proud” in the 70’s, I thought the phrase was a statement of fact — “death is not proud,” whatever that would have meant, as opposed to a direct challenge to death’s pride — and even though I’ve since learned otherwise I’ve never been able to shake my “wrong” impression) though I certainly do think the famed poem above indicates a mixed relationship with the idea of death; does Donne truly mock it or does he kind of want to give it a try himself?

In any case, I think Papa reads Donne’s poem, at this moment in his life, as a rallying cry, paying more attention to its final line “Death thou shalt die!” than to its more ambivalent sentiments (the sure, bold hand with which he transcribes the poem conveys a sense of assertiveness, too, as opposed to tearful midnight weepiness.) While Papa is certainly not done mourning, this entry is a good sign, and shows us an interesting moment in his struggle to grieve without giving in to despair. He is deciding, bit by bit, that the best way to honor his father’s life is to live his own life well, and he’s letting us watch.

Sunday June 1

by


Death (by Walter Savage Landor)

Death stands above me whispering low
I know not what into my ear;
Of his strange language all I know
Is, there is not a word of fear.

Remark

(Not thoughts of suicide prompt
me to write the above poems on death
I want to live and have no death plans,
But death claimed my father my
dearest friend and adviser,
so I copied the poems from my
book of lyrics.)

————-

Here Papa gives us another look at the deep and complicated process unfolding within him. Since his father died, feelings of despair and resolve, self-defeat and self-preservation, have sloshed back and forth in his head, combining to create something new, unfamiliar, and volatile. In the last few days, we’ve watched him slowly separate the mixture and attempt to put its more destructive components back where they belong, though in the process he is often surprised by their potency.

Papa’s need to deny any suicidal interpretation of his poetry choices is one by-product of his efforts. It never would have occurred to me to think he has “death plans,” yet he goes out of his way to assure us he doesn’t. Perhaps Papa doth protest too much? Did he, in transcribing poems that acknowledge the seductive temptations of eternal sleep, briefly think he’d prefer it to living with his own sadness? Was the notion so shocking and therefore so obvious to him that he thought it could not but occur to his readers as well?

Several days ago, Papa had a quick brush with pessimism and bemoaned his own bad luck and helplessness in the face of the world’s unfairness. Moments later, though, he recovered himself and vowed to keep his mother and family safe in his father’s absence, thus regaining a sense of command over his own life. I think the same kind of thing has happened over the past few days. He quoted Donne and Landor’s poems as rallying cries against death’s potential power to ruin our lives with fear and sadness, and in so doing forced himself to look at his own fear and sadness, to test himself against it.

The wording he uses toward the end of this entry — “I want to live and have no death plans, But death claimed my father my dearest friend and trusted adviser, so I copied the poems” — demonstrates a growing mastery over his grief. Not only does he literally say he wants to live on, it’s almost as if he says it as a counterpoint to his father’s death: “My father is dead, and though I loved him, I must remember I’m still alive.” It’s another demonstration of how he learned to steer himself through dark and unfamiliar waters by the light of his essential optimism and resolve.