On the Slaughter

The first comprehensive English translation of a Jewish-Ukrainian master's poetry, from the fiery poems he wrote protesting the pogroms of the early 20th century to his sublime lyrics about longing and self-reflection.

On the Slaughter, named for Bialik's most famous poem, also includes a sample of the poet's work for children and an impassioned introduction by the collection's translator, MacArthur winner Peter Cole.

Few poets in the history of Hebrew have possessed the power and prescience of Haim Nahman Bialik. Born in 1873 in a small Ukrainian village, he spent his most productive years in Odessa and in his fifties made his way to British Mandatory Palestine. He died in Vienna. His body of work opened a path from the traditional Jewish world of Eastern Europe into a more expansive Jewish humanism. In a line that stretches back to the Bible and the Hebrew poetry of Muslim and Christian Spain, he stands out—in the words of Maxim Gorky—as “a modern Isaiah.”

Translated and introduced by MacArthur-winning poet Peter Cole, On the Slaughter presents Bialik for the first time in English as a masterful artist, someone far more politically and psychologically unsettling than his reputation as the national poet of the Jewish people might suggest. This compact collection offers readers a panoramic view of Bialik’s inner and outer landscapes—from his visionary “poems of wrath” that respond in startling fashion to the devastations of pogroms and revolutionary unrest to quietly sublime lyrics of longing and withering self-assessment. The volume also includes a sampling of slyly sophisticated verse for children, and a moving introduction that bridges Bialik’s moment and our own.