Shall life’s sweet Spring forever last? Look up,
Old age approaches ominously near.
Oh shake thou off the world, even as the bird
Shakes off the midnight dew that clogged his wings.
Soar upward, seek redemption from thy guilt
And from the earthly dross that round thee clings.
Draw near to God, His holy angels know,
For whom His bounteous streams of mercy flow.
Translated by Emma Lazarus
They recoiled when their shining light sank into the earth,and the clods of earth knew not what they hold.They hold a princely man,a good man, blameless, upright,a God-fearing man, discreet and wise.translated by T. Carmi
Have no fear, for they are twistedTo allure you unto me.’Thus she spoke, the gentle dove,Listen to your plighted love:‘Oh, how long I wait, till my sweetheart comes back,’ she said,‘Laying his caressing hand underneath my burning head.’
Nor command to the deep, ‘Become dry’.Until I thank Your mercies, and I thankThe waves of the sea and the wind of the west;Let them propel me to the place of the yoke of Your love,And bear far from me the Arab yoke.And how shall my desires not find fulfillment,Seeing as I trust in You,…
The lovely doe, far from her home, whose lover is angry—why did shelaugh? She laughed at the daughter of Edom and the daughter of Arabia who covet her beloved. Why, they are nothing but wild asses, and how can they compare to the doe who nestled against her gazelle? Where is the spirit of prophecy…
The Creator who discovereth all from nothing,Is revealed to the heart, but not to the eye;Therefore ask not how nor where—For He filleth heaven and earth.Remove lust from the midst of thee;Thou wilt find thy God within thy bosom,Walking gently in thine heart—He that bringeth low and that lifteth up.And see the way of the…
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yetZion lieth beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains?A light thing would it seem to me to leave all the good things of Spain—Seeing how precious in mine eyes to behold the dust of the desolate sanctuary.Translated by Nina Salaman
