The night when the fair maiden
About This Entry
This lyrical and lovely Hebrew poem uses the evocative imagery of gemstones and the dawn to describe the beauty of a young woman.
The night when the fair maiden revealed the likeness of her form to me,
the warmth of her cheeks, the veil of her hair,
golden like a topaz, covering
a brow of smoothest crystal—
She was like the sun making red in her rising
the clouds of dawn with the flame of her light.
Slightly adapted from the translation of Nina Salaman.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.
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This influential poem expresses ha-Levi’s desire to emigrate to the land of Israel, which entailed a rejection of the Andalusi culture in which he was raised.
Rejoice, O young man
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So pressed by longing for the living God
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to greet the seat of my people’s kings,
I never stopped to kiss my wife,
my children, friends, or kin.
I never weep for the orchard I planted,
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What folly my homeland has committed
Lament on the death of his mother. [Son:] What folly my homeland has committed, for it has put away the glory of my lady!It did not know that it was taking all its lovely things, when it took what I…
Hurry to the lovers’ camp
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Dispersed by Time, a ruin now;
Once the haunt of love’s gazelles,
Wolves’ and lions’ lair today.
From far away I hear Gazelle,
From Edom’s keep and Arab’s cell,
Mourning…
My heart’s desire
My heart’s desire and my eyes’ delight: the hart beside me and a cup in my right hand!
Many denounce me for loving, but I pay no heed. Come to me, fawn, and I shall vanquish them. Time will consume…