Will he, her beloved, remember?

Will he, her beloved, remember his lovely gazelle,
when he is separated from her? And that in her arms was his only son?
When he placed the signet-ring from his right hand upon her left,
and on his arm she placed her bracelet.
When she took his mantle as a memento,
and as a memento he took her mantle?
Would he remain anywhere in Sefarad,
even were he to receive half the territory of its prince?

Translated by Gabriel Wasserman.

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

Engage with this Source

This Hebrew poem—written in the voice of a woman saying farewell to her departing husband—is thought to have been composed by the otherwise unknown wife of Dunash ben Labraṭ. It was copied together with a poem by Dunash, on a page found in the Cairo Geniza, with a heading, which may or may not be accurate, that says it was written on the occasion of Dunash’s forced departure from Spain. The last line alludes to Esther 5:3.

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