Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, JEHUDA HALEVI'S SONGS TO ZION, SELECTION, by YEHUDA HALEVI


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

JEHUDA HALEVI'S SONGS TO ZION, SELECTION, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My heart in the east
Alternate Author Name(s): Halevi, Judah; Judah Ha-levi; Abu Al-hasan
Subject(s): Jews; Mysticism - Judaism; Judaism


My heart in the East
and I at the farthest West:
how can I taste what I eat or find it sweet
while Zion
is in the cords of Edom and I
bound by the Arab?
Beside the dust of Zion
all the good of Spain is light;
and a light thing to leave it.

And if it is now only a land of howling beasts and owls
was it not so
when given to our fathers --
all of it only a heritage of thorns and thistles?
But they walked in it --
His name in their hearts, sustenance! --
as in a park among flowers.

In the midst of the sea
when the hills of it slide and sink
and the wind
lifts the water like sheaves --
now a heap of sheaves and then a floor for the threshing --
and sail and planks shake
and the hands of the sailors are rags,

and no place for flight but the sea,
and the ship is hidden in waves
like a theft in the thief's hand,
suddenly the sea is smooth
and the stars shine on the water.

wisdom and knowledge -- except to swim --
have neither fame nor favor here;
a prisoner of hope, he gave his spirit to the winds,
and is owned by the sea;
between him and death -- a board.

Zion, do you ask if the captives are at peace --
the few that are left?
I cry out like the jackals when I think of their grief;
but, dreaming of the end of their captivity,
I am like a harp for your songs.


Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA
98368-0271, www.cc.press.org




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