The Ghetto and Other Poems

Lola Ridge (1873 - 1941) was an anarchist poet and an influential editor of avant-garde, feminist, and Marxist publications best remembered for her long poems and poetic sequences. Her first book, The Ghetto and Other Poems was published in 1918. The title poem portrays the Jewish community of Hester Street New York. The work deals with the effects of capitalism, gender conflict and conflicts between generations in this immigrant community. Poems include The Ghetto, Manhattan, Broadway, Flotsam, Spring, Bowery Afternoon, Promenade, The Fog, Faces, Debris, Dedication, The Song of Iron, Frank Little at Calvary, Spires, The Legion of Iron, Fuel, A Toast, "The Everlasting Return," Palestine, The Song, To the Others, Babel, The Fiddler, Dawn Wind, North Wind, The Destroyer, Lullaby, The Foundling, The Woman with Jewels, Submerged, Art and Life, Brooklyn Bridge, Dreams, The Fire, A Memory, The Edge, The Garden, Under-Song, A Worn Rose, Iron Wine, Dispossessed, The Star, and The Tidings.