Dove of the king’s palace

Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi)

Late 11th Century

Dove of the king’s palace, pigeon of the ruler’s palace,

perched at the top of the beech tree to praise her master,

three times a day she stands, as she extols

and sings to her patron, with her sweet voice.

Her wings are covered with pure silver,

her pinions with refined gold.

She drinks water from a flowing spring,

and she does not drool it out, [nor drip anything] from her talons.

She is fitting for a sacrifice upon the altar,

for the forgiveness of the congregation’s sins and misdeeds.

In the midst of her dovecote, which is built at the tower top,

is her home, straight up high.

But she was a wee bit lax in her service,

so the king raged furiously, to send her off desolate.

He expelled her, with fierce anger, from the fortified city,

and allowed the hawks to chase after her.

She turned her neck, away from the eagle and osprey,

and fled for refuge in the hidden cleft of the boulder.

But inside, she found a serpent giving her trouble,

and outside, the osprey and hawk were plotting to grab her.

Therefore, the wayward dove cooed and cried out.

With a mournful voice she called out to her master,

“Please, O master, free me, rescue me,

from those that fly and tear, which cause me constant affliction.”

Her patron responds, with a voice similarly [mournful],

“Do not fear, O dove, you who are so wholesome in your deeds!

In a moment, I will turn away from my rage,

and I will lead you from there to the lofty palaces.

The pigeons and fledglings, and the dove chicks—

I will bear them upon my pinions, as if on eagle’s wings,

to the city of Jerusalem, to Zion, the chosen place.

I will settle you safely, as formerly, in earlier times.

Those that fly, the hawks, and all the birds of prey—

I shall hack their bodies to pieces with my sword, which is sharpened.”

May the leader of all birds take the authority

to destroy, in an instant, the birds of pollution.

May the scion of the monarchy be strong, leading me,

when the time of redemption comes and draws near.

[May God say,] “I will gladly accept sacrifices from my priests,

and the song performed on the platform by my Levites.”

With all this, we come to call upon you—

[O our master in heaven!]

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

This poem, a tahanun, seems to be a penitential prayer for the season around the Days of Awe, as the last line of the poem seems to flow straight into the beginning of the fixed passage in the selihot liturgy that begins “O our master in heaven, we supplicate you!” The poem is a sustained metaphor of the Jewish people as a dove, beloved by the king (God), who has been expelled from her dovecote (Jerusalem) for a minor infraction, and is navigating a dangerous exile among birds of prey (the nations). Sustained metaphors like this are very rare in piyyutim, especially in northern Europe. The speaker prays for the rise of “the leader of all birds,” a reference to a resurrected King David, based on a passage in the midrashic Chapters of R. Eliezer (Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer). After this, the final lines of the poem drop the dove metaphor entirely.

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Dove of the king’s palace

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