Atlastrecoveredinthisenrichingannotatededition,thisimportantbutneglectedworkofAmericanmodernismoffersauniquepoeticencounterwiththeJewishcommunitiesinNewYork’sLowerEastSide.Longforgottenonaccountofhergenderandleft-wingpolitics,LolaRidgeisfinallybeingrediscoveredandreadalongsidesuchcelebratedcontemporariesasHartCrane,WilliamCarlosWilliams,andMarianneMoore--allofwhomknewherandadmiredherwork.InhertimeRidgewasconsideredoneofAmerica’sleadingpoets,butafterherdeathin1941sheandherworkeffectivelydisappearedforthenextseventy-fiveyears.HerbookTheGhettoandOtherPoems,isakeyworkofAmericanmodernism,yetithaslong,andunjustly,beenneglected.Whenitwasfirstpublishedin1918--inanabbreviatedversioninTheNewRepublic,theninfullbyB.W.Huebschfivemonthslater--TheGhettoandOtherPoemswasaliterarysensation.ThepoetAlfredKreymbourg,inaPoetryMagazinereview,praised“TheGhetto“forits“sheerpassion,deadlyaccuracyofversatileimages,beauty,richness,andincisivenessofepithet,unfoldingofadventures,portraitureofemotionandthought,pageantryofpushcarts--thewholelifting,falling,stumbling,mountingtoabroad,symphonicrhythm.“LouisUntermeyer,writinginTheNewYorkEveningPost,found“TheGhetto““atoncepersonalinitspiercingsympathyandepicalinitssweep.Itisstuddedwithimagesthataresurprisingandyetneverstrainedorirrelevant;itglowswithacolorthatisbarbaric,exotic,andaslocalasGrandStreet.“ThelongtitlepoemisadetailedandsympatheticaccountoflifeintheJewishGhettoofNewYork’sLowerEastSide,withparticularemphasisonthestrugglesandresilienceofwomen.Thesubsequentsection,“ManhattanLights,“delvesfurtherintocitylifeandimmigrantexperience,illuminatinglifeintheBowery.OtherpoemsstemfromRidge’slifelongsupportoftheAmericanlabormovement,andfromherownexperienceasanimmigrant.ThiscriticaleditionseekstorecovertheattentionTheGhetto,andOtherPoems,andinparticularthetitlepoem,lostafterRidge’sdeath.Thepoemsinthevolumeareasaestheticallystrongastheyarehistoricallyrevealing.Theirlanguagecombinesstrengthanddirectnesswithstartlingmetaphors,andtheirformembracesbothpanoramicsweepandlyricalintensity.ExpertlyeditedandannotatedbyLawrenceKramer,thisfirstmoderneditiontoreproducethefull1918publicationofTheGhettoandOtherStoriesoffersallthebackgroundandcontextneededforarich,informedreadingofLolaRidge’smasterpiece.
