Reuben Iceland (April 29, 1884 – June 18, 1955) was a Galician-born Jewish-American Yiddish poet, translator, and journalist

Life

Iceland was born on April 29, 1884 in

Radomyśl Wielki Radomyśl Wielki () is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, (Mielec County), Poland, with a population of 3,231 inhabitants (30.06.2019). The town lies on a local road nr. 984, running between Tarnów and Mielec and within the historic borde ...

, Galicia. He began writing Hebrew poems in 1900 and Yiddish poems in 1904. He immigrated to America in September 1903. In 1907, Iceland helped form the literary movement

Di Yunge Di Yunge was the first major literary movement of Yiddish poetry in America. During the early 20th century, their work emphasized romanticism, individualism, subjectivism, and free and indirect expression. History Yiddish literature was most pr ...

. A principal contributor to the movement's periodicals and anthologies, he was editor of ''Literatur un Leben'' in 1915 and co-editor of ''Der Inzl'' with

Mani Leib Mani Leib (Mani Leyb, yi, מאַני לייב; born Mani Leib Brahinsky, russian: Мани Лейб Брагинский; 20 December 1883, Nezhin, Russian Empire – 4 October 1953, New York) was a Yiddish-language poet. He was one of eight chil ...

from 1915 to 1926. His works included the 1922 ''Fun Mayn Zumer'' (From My Summer), which was a transitional work from his earlier impressionistic poems to a tonally more mystical, the poem ''Tarnow'', which captured the Jewish community of the town of Tarnow, and the 1954 ''Fun Unzer Frillig'' (From Our Spring), which included his reminiscences of Di Yunge. Iceland came to know poetess Anna Margolin when he was thirty-five. They became involved, and she inspired him to write ''Fun Mayn Zumer'', which depicted their emotional struggle before finding fulfillment in each other. His memoir ''Fun Unzer Frillig'' included a lengthy biographical sketch of her. In 1918, Iceland became a regular contributor for ''

Der Tog ''Der Tog'' ( en, The Day) was a Yiddish-language daily newspaper published in New York City from 1914 until 1971. The offices of ''Der Tog'' were located on the Lower East Side, at 185 and 187 East Broadway. History The newspaper's first issue ...

'', followed by ''Der Tog Morgn Zshurnal''. He translated Heinrich Heine's series of poems from ''Die Nordsee'' (North Sea) and four volumes of pose by Heine into Yiddish. He also translated Herman Bang's novels ''De uden Fædreland'' (Without a Fatherland) and ''Fratelli Bedini''. He translated poems from, among others,

Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, Ki ...

Max Dauthendey Max Dauthendey (25 July 1867 – 29 August 1918) was a German author and painter of the impressionist period. He was born in Würzburg and died in Malang. Together with Richard Dehmel and Eduard von Keyserling, he is regarded as one of the m ...

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, and

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

. He also translated works from Chinese poets, including

Su Dongpo The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Tang dynasty poet and politician. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets.Ebrey, 103. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as ...

, and

Zhuangzi Zhuangzi may refer to: * ''Zhuangzi'' (book) (莊子), an ancient Chinese collection of anecdotes and fables, one of the foundational texts of Daoism **Zhuang Zhou Zhuang Zhou (), commonly known as Zhuangzi (; ; literally "Master Zhuang"; als ...

. He wrote a drama called ''R’ Asher Kahane'' (Rabbi Asher Kahane). Ill for the last few years of his life, Iceland retired from his journalistic activities and settled in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

, where he published his last book. He died there on June 18, 1955. He was buried in New York.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iceland, Reuben 1884 births 1955 deaths People from Mielec County Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria American people of Polish-Jewish descent Austro-Hungarian Jews Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States Yiddish-language playwrights Translators to Yiddish Yiddish-language poets Jewish American poets Jewish American journalists 20th-century American poets Poets from New York (state) American male poets 20th-century American translators 20th-century American newspaper editors Journalists from New York City Editors of New York City newspapers People from Miami Beach, Florida Burials in New York (state)