Joseph Bovshover

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Joseph Bovshover
יוסף באָװשאָװער
Joseph Bovshover.jpg
Bovshover photographed in 1911, New York City
BornSeptember 30, 1873
Lyubavichi, Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire
DiedDecember 25, 1915(1915-12-25) (aged 42)
Poughkeepsie, New York, U.S.
Other namesBasil Dahl, M. Turbov
Occupation
  • Poet
  • essayist
  • translator
MovementAnarcho-communism

Joseph Bovshover (Yiddish: יוסף באָװשאָװער; Polish: Józef Bowszower; Russian: Иосиф Бовшовер; September 30, 1873 – December 25, 1915), also known as Yoysef Bovshover and under pseudonyms Basil Dahl and M. Turbov, was a Yiddish-language poet, essayist, and translator of Russian-Jewish descent. He has been described in Emma Goldman's Living My Life as a "high-strung and impulsive man of exceptional poetic gifts."[1]

Biography[]

Early life[]

Joseph Bovshover was born to a family of cantors, scholars, and businessmen in Lyubavichi within the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire (now Belarus). At an early age, he studied religion under the apprenticeship of his father to become a rabbi. With no desire to become one, he settled in Riga during the First Latvian National Awakening to work at a grain shop and to study German classics. There, he was drawn to the poetry of Heinrich Heine.

After anti-Jewish pogroms raged across Europe, he immigrated to New York City in 1891 with the help of his brothers to work as a furrier in a sweatshop, where he would read his poetry aloud. He tried out roles as a grocery store owner and a German teacher but was ultimately enamored with poetry. While in the United States, he became an anarcho-communist and a supporter of the labor movement.

Career[]

Poetry and prose[]

His first poems were published in socialist newspaper Arbayter-tsaytung (Yiddish: אַרבײַטער־צײַטונג; "Workers' newspaper") under his pseudonym M. Turbov. Among his first poems and prose were Kapitals a korban (Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַלס אַ קרבן; "Capital's victim"), Afn shterbe-bet (Yiddish: אױפֿן שטערבע־בעט; "On the death bed"), and Kapitals karbones (Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַלס קרבנות; "Capital's victims"). His early work comprised themes of the agony of work. Radical Yiddish poets Morris Winchevsky, David Edelstadt, and Morris Rosenfeld, with whom he is now considered a "Labor Poet," informed his early writing. In 1894, he abandoned their influences and began writing his own playful poetry—notably Fest-lider (Yiddish פֿעסט־לידער; "Poems of affirmation"), Lust-lider (Yiddish: לוסט־לידער; "Poems of joy"), Libe-lider (Yiddish: ליבע־לידער; "Poems of love"), Dikhtung-lust (Yiddish: דיכטונג־לוסט; "Joy of poetry"), Friling-lust (Yiddish: פֿרילינג־לוסט; "Joy of spring"), Di meydls libe-lid (Yiddish: די מײדלס ליבע־ליד; "The girl's love poem"), and Der dikhter als gast (Yiddish: דער דיכטער אַלס גאַסט; "The poet as guest"). Many of his original poems were also set to music.

Between 1894 and 1895, Bovshover lived in poverty. He traveled to New Haven, Connecticut during the summer of 1895 to work in a clothing store. While in New Haven, he worked in two other roles as a newspaper deliveryman in the morning and a restaurant worker during the day. Here, he also learned to write fluent English. In 1896, he began working at a doctor's office, writing in both English and Yiddish in his free time.

Influenced by Walt Whitman, he began writing poetry with revolutionary and proletarian themes. He wrote under his pseudonym Basil Dahl for a short time, publishing Tsum folk (Yiddish: צום פֿאָלק; "To the people"), A gezang tsum folk (Yiddish: אַ געזאַנג צום פֿאָלק; "A song to the people"), and Revolutsyon (Yiddish: רעװאָלוציאָן; "Revolution"). In 1896, his English translation of Tsum folk, titled To the Toilers, was featured alongside ten of his other English poems in Benjamin R. Tucker's Liberty. Eight of his poems from Liberty were later translated into Yiddish for Der shtern (Yiddish: דער שטערן; "The star").

Beginning in 1898 to 1899, Bovshover became embittered, writing despairing poems—Dos lebn (Yiddish: דאָס לעבן; "Life") and Di fridns-polme (Yiddish: די פֿרידנס־פּאָלמע; "The freedom's palm tree"). In these years, he also contributed to Alexander Harkavy's Der nayer gayst (Yiddish: דער נײַער גײַסט; "The new spirit"), where his controversial Yiddish translation of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice appeared as Der koyfman fun venedig (Yiddish: דער קױפֿמאַן פֿון װענעדיג) and, alternatively, as Shaylok (Yiddish: שײַלאָק; "Shylock"). In 1899, he wrote an essay titled Vegn poezye (Yiddish: װעגן פּאָעזיע; "On poetry"), featuring his poetic analyses of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heine, John Milton, and Petrarch. His essay also included biographies of Heine's poetic aphorisms, Yiddish translations of poems and essay excerpts from Ralph Waldo Emerson, citations from Whitman's writings, and commentary on Edwin Markham. In 1899, he also translated Markham's The Man with the Hoe into Yiddish as Der man mitn ridl (Yiddish: דער מאַן מיטן רידל), published in Di fraye gezelshaft (Yiddish: די פֿרײַע געזעלשאַפֿט; "The free society").

In 1899, the previously dormant Fraye Arbeter Shtime (Yiddish: פֿרײַע אַרבעטער שטימע; German: Freie Arbeiter Stimme; "Free Voice of Labor") published a collection of his poetry titled Naye un alte lider (Yiddish: נײַע און אַלטע לידער; "New and old poems").

Theatre[]

In 1899, Bovshover's writing reached Yiddish theatre. His translation of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice was adapted, starring actor Jacob Pavlovich Adler. Bovshover created plans for the theatrical singing of Friedrich Schiller's Kabale und Liebe ("Cabals and Love"), based on Jacob Gordin's earlier adaptation titled Reyzele (Yiddish: רײזעלע). He also created plans for the performance of Gerhart Hauptmann's Fuhrmann Henschel ("Drayman Henschel"), based on Menke Katz's adaptation titled Gedalye der balegole (Yiddish: גדליה דער בעל־עגלה; "Gedaliah the drayman"). He planned to translate Goethe's Faust into Yiddish, but it never appears in the published collection of his works.

Death and afterward[]

Bovshover's lifetime concerns about making a living and his egocentrism led to his mental illness. He became depressed and was hospitalized, where he stayed until his death in 1915. His brothers initially withheld the news of his death, formally disclosing it to the public in February 1916. After the Bolshevik Revolution, his work became popular with the emerging Soviet Yiddish press. Throughout 1918, his poetry was featured in Soviet Russia's first Yiddish-language newspaper, Varhayt (Yiddish: װאַרהײַט, "Truth"). In 1919, his work also became popular with Britain's anarcho-communist journal, The Spur. At the publication, his poetry was translated into English by Joseph Leftwich. In 1920, his work was included in Moscow's Mut (Yiddish: מוט; "Courage"). In 1925, his work was also included in Kharkov's Zamlung (Yiddish: זאַמלונג; "Collection"). In 1940, three unknown poems of his were published in New York City for Yidishe kultur (Yiddish: ייִדישע קולטור; "Jewish culture") by .

In 1983, his text from Revolutsyon was repurposed and set to music for a song by Dick Gaughan titled Revolution.[2]

In 2006, his works were published in Benjamin Harshav's Sing, Stranger: A Century of American Yiddish Poetry—A Historical Anthology.

Works[]

  • Poetishe verk (Yiddish: פּאָעטישע װערק; "Poetic works") (1903)
  • Lider un gedikhte (Yiddish: לידער און געדיכטע; "Songs and poems") (1907)
  • Bilder un gedanken (Yiddish: בילדער און געדאַנקען; "Pictures and ideas") (1907)
  • Gezamlte shriftn: poezye un proze (Yiddish: געזאַמלטע שריפֿטן׃ פּאָעזיע און פּראָזע; "Collected writings: poetry and prose") (1911, reprinted in 1916)
  • Shaylok (1911–1912)
  • Geklibene lider (Yiddish: געקליבענע לידער; "Collected poems") (1918 and 1931)
  • To the Toilers and Other Verses (1928)
  • Lider (Yiddish: לידער; "Poems") (1930)
  • Lider un dertseylungen (Yiddish: לידער און דערצײלונגען; "Poems and stories") (1939)

References[]

  1. ^ "Living My Life/Volume 1". Wikisource. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  2. ^ Kelly, Daniel. "Alistair Hulett Memorial Concert – Sydney 2020". Folklounge (Daniel Kelly Music). Retrieved 9 May 2021.
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