Instrument of Memory, Encounters with the Wandering Jew

Author

Lampert-Weissig; Lisa

Year

2024

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Language

English

Pages

ISBN

978-0-47290-395-5

Link

Last Update

17-Jan-2026

Keywords

History ; European Studies ; Language & Literature ; Religion ; Jewish Studies

Description

What would it be like to meet an immortal being? In this opening stanza to Edwin Arlington Robinson’s 1920 poem “The Wandering Jew,” the speaker depicts an encounter with the legendary figure, said to be cursed by Jesus with a supernaturally long life (Robinson 1928, 456; see also Stanford 1978). According to legend, as Jesus bore the cross along the Via Dolorosa, he paused before a man’s home and asked to rest. The man refused, heartlessly urging him to hurry to his death. Jesus turned to him and said, “I will go, but you will tarry until I return.” Since...