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Teaching the Holocaust and other Genocides

When You Set Out to Write A Poem...

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When You Set Out to Write A Poem …                             
9 May 1944

When you set out to write a poem
Look inside yourself for what are called feelings
For no matter how little you might know
In your own world, you are the king
Whose wish reigns supreme, who is all knowing.

And write about the battle within your soul
About a love effervescent in your heart
Write also about how you see life
Write about people who care about you
Write abut what you feel when you see nature.

In the end, nothing can ever emerge as purely
Nothing can be as simple and yet as beautiful
As what is born of your inner self
What is destined for you and you alone
What blows your way like a soft breeze…                                                                 

Heinz Geiringer’s last poem (translated by Sheila Gogol)

Discussion Questions

1. Identify uses of abstract imagery in the poem. 

2. Explain how this poem differs from Heinz Geiringer’s other pieces.

3. What does the simile in the last stanza represent? 

4. Do you think the title is appropriate for this piece? Why or why not? If not, what would you title the poem? 

5. This poem was written while Geiringer was in hiding, just days away from being captured. What do you think motivated him to write this poem?