Chisel of Remembrance is devoted to the premise that in the cultural and communal traditions of all peoples, be they Chinese, Jewish or Tibetean, there is what Yeats called a ceremony of innocence offering salvation from the mere anarchy loosed when the past is forgotten. In poems concerning the classical arts of creation, the value of remembrance, the havoc wrought by war and revolution, and the peace gained by ancient practices of meditation and devotion to the present, the author urges us to hear the voice within the silence. Reviewers have praised the exciting combination of passion, wisdom, and historical perspective present in this new poetry collection by Vera Schwarcz. Stanley Moss finds the work of Schwarcz to be "poetry of a very high order, simultaneously informed by English, Chinese, Hungarian, Romanian, German, Hebrew, and Jewish religious tradition. I place English first only because the book is written in English. But I hear Chinese, a language I do not know, as dominant while post-Holocaust emotion is ever-present... This politically charged poetry with its abhorrence of suffering also teaches a profound love of nature, while providing the simple pleasures Auden required."
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Vera Schwarcz's words are precise brushstrokes that reveal and illuminate what she loves, celebrates, mourns, and desires. For this poet, the past does not recede into the realm of forgotten history but rushes forward into the present. In this engaging and elegant book, Schwarcz wields the chisel of remembrance that, delicately, delicately, finds its way to what is sacred, necessary, and in the right hands lasting." --Charles Ades Fishman
"These deceptively simple, direct poems are organic in the best sense, drawing deeply from roots in Jewish, Chinese, and other ancient traditions and arising as naturally as a deep breath at the first light of dawn. They are a pleasure." --Sam Hamill
"Into the corpus of Vera Schwarcz's shimmering poetry and meditations comes this outstanding book of new poems, Chisel of Remembrance, which offers the reader a combination telescope/microscope as the poet ponders Chinese, Jewish, and personal culture. Again and again it offers lines I want to read aloud, enjoying their chemical mix of feeling and intellect. You never know what s around the next corner: an art collector, blinded clocks, wild chirping, alphabets, cherry bark, date fronds, the scent of peace, or Confucius himself... This bright and eloquent book will keep Vera Schwarcz in the light for many years." --Michele F. Cooper
"These deceptively simple, direct poems are organic in the best sense, drawing deeply from roots in Jewish, Chinese, and other ancient traditions and arising as naturally as a deep breath at the first light of dawn. They are a pleasure." --Sam Hamill
"Into the corpus of Vera Schwarcz's shimmering poetry and meditations comes this outstanding book of new poems, Chisel of Remembrance, which offers the reader a combination telescope/microscope as the poet ponders Chinese, Jewish, and personal culture. Again and again it offers lines I want to read aloud, enjoying their chemical mix of feeling and intellect. You never know what s around the next corner: an art collector, blinded clocks, wild chirping, alphabets, cherry bark, date fronds, the scent of peace, or Confucius himself... This bright and eloquent book will keep Vera Schwarcz in the light for many years." --Michele F. Cooper
About the Author
Vera Schwarcz was born and raised in Cluj, Romania, where she began her explorations of poetry in several languages. Her mother tongues include Hungarian and Romanian, with Yiddish, German, Hebrew, Russian and French added along the way. After emigrating to the United States in 1962, she pursued degrees in East Asian studies and history at Vassar, Yale and Stanford. A member of the first group of exchange scholars to be sent to China in the spring of 1979, she has returned to Beijing repeatedly during the past three decades. All along, her corpus of scholarly writing has been accompanied by the publication of poems in several languages in the United States, Europe and Asia. The daughter of Holocaust survivors, Schwarcz has made the quest for remembrance a central theme in all her works. Her writing has been nominated for the National Jewish Book Award and has been accorded several major grants, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. Currently, Vera Schwarcz is serving as Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University and holds the Freeman Chair in East Asian Studies. She lives with her husband and children in West Hartford, Connecticut.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A Celebration of Humble Words,
This review is from: Chisel of Remembrance (Paperback)
The poet "sets out on the half-thawed/river of common speech." Vera Schwarcz, in Chisel of Remembrance, reminds us that the words we use in our daily lives are the same words the poet uses to usher us into her feast of words. She celebrates words, humble words that cradle us and straightforward words that rouse us to commit to memory history's worst atrocities, to use that memory, that "chisel of remembrance" to "pry open time" and set it free. Ms. Schwarcz uses her broad erudition of foreign cultures--Chinese, Jewish, Hungarian, Romanian--but never loses her poet's vision: The writing woman/is a listening woman,/an endlessly patient woman embroidering tapestries/of light where chaos/reigned before. This is an extraordinary collection of poems that I have read, reread and will continue to explore.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful journey,
By
This review is from: Chisel of Remembrance (Paperback)
This book of poems brings together the elements of a rich and multilayered life-- the poetic story of a beautiful journey. The journey begins before the poet was born, "among the Jewish dead," in WWII Europe of her grandparents and parents, and winds its way to a timeless place of contemplation "where this world meets the sefirot above." In between, the reader is rewarded with glimpses of Vera Schwartcz's complex present-- her deep commitment to her Jewish identity and religion, her knowledge and interest in Chinese culture and history, her artistic activity as a poet, and her scholarly activity as a historian. Her poems, masterfully and intelligently, weave the disparate trends of her life and interests into a beautiful tapestry.
The book is handsomely produced by Antrim House. Its cover by Rose Sigal Ibsen, another Romanian born artist with interest in Far East art, with its warm colors, sunflowers, and hints of Hebrew and Chinese calligraphy, offers a prelude to the poetry within. The invitation is unmistakable, in Vera's words: "I work silk and wool, embroider time. Life is short, art is well armed for lasting. .................................... The queen of periwinkle, daisies, trillium and wart Invites you to sojourn among her colors," I love this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves poetry.
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