Religious Imagery in Edwin Rolfe?

In the first period of Edwin Rolfe's work, he presents an unwavering belief in communism. To Rolfe, this is his faith, not Christianity. However, in many of Rolfe's poems, he directly uses religious imagery to set up his belief in the "redeeming" powers of communism. Thus, Rolfe presents a hybridization of American culture. On one level he is a leftist intellectual. On the other hand, his use of religious imagery echoes much of the foundations of America, and therefore a more mainstream America. These two disparate elements combined ultimately display the true "melting pot" of America's nature.

Rolfe sets up communism in a religious light, in order to more easily convince people of its' merits. For example, in "Winds of Another Sphere" Rolfe suggests that the coming of communism to the West will ultimately free man, as a sort of "second coming." He suggests that "winds/ blowing from the east" will soon create this freedom (Rolfe 1-2). This clearly evokes the Biblical imagery of the coming justice of the Lord on the four winds. Yet, the winds from the east is actually the triumph of the Soviet Union. As America harbored anticommunist sentiment at this time, Rolfe attempts to soften American resistance in a roundabout way. He does not make a clear propagandistic approach to his rhetoric. In "Testament to a Flowering Race," Rolfe crafts his use of religious imagery more craftily. From the very mention of the title, Rolfe seeks to praise the virtues of man. In the opening line he states "we are wise in ways which none has preordained" (1). Predestination is a major point of contention between various sects of the Christian denomination. By using this line of thought, he pits Catholicism against Protestantism. Rolfe thus appears as a Catholic humanist who believes in man's responsibility because he is not fated. By pointing these two camps against one another, Rolfe avoids the point of accusation against himself as a communist. He asks his reader to think, and he subtly is able to convince the reader of the merits of communism.

Rolfe certainly believes in communism as an almost religion. However, presenting communism in religious imagery also has implications for his rhetoric. This perspective allows him to negate the atheistic connotations of communism. He is thus able to win adherents over to his side through his rhetoric.