Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol

by Gabirol, Solomon Ibn

• ISBN13: 9780691070322
• ISBN10: 0691070326
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-12
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Poet, philosopher, and sensitive misanthrope, a spectacular fly in the ointment of the refined eleventh-century Andalusian-Jewish elite, Solomon Ibn Gabirol comes down to us as one of the most complicated intellectual figures in the history of post-biblical Judaism. Unlike his worldly predecessor Shmuel HaNagid, the first important poet of the period, Ibn Gabirol was a reclusive, mystically inclined figure whose modern-sounding medieval poems range from sublime descriptions of the heavenly spheres to poisonous jabs at court life and its pretenders. His verse, which demonstrates complete mastery of the classicizing avant-garde poetics of the day, grafted an Arabic aesthetic onto a biblical vocabulary and Jewish setting, taking Hebrew poetry to a level of metaphysical sophistication and devotional power it has not achieved since. Peter Cole's selection includes poems from nearly all of Ibn Gabirol's secular and liturgical lyric genres, as well as a complete translation of the poet's long masterwork, "Kingdom's Crown." Cole's rich, inventive introduction places the poetry in historical context and charts its influence through the centuries. Extensive annotations accompany the poems. This companion volume to Peter Cole's critically acclaimedSelected Poems of Shmuel HaNagidpresents the first comprehensive selection of Ibn Gabirol's verse to be published in English and brings to life an astonishing body of poetry by one of the greatest Jewish writers of all time.

Author Biography

Peter Cole has published six volumes of translation from medieval and contemporary Hebrew and Arabic. His Selected Poems of Shmuel HaNagid (Princeton, 1996) was awarded the MLA-Scaglione Prize for Translation. He lives in Jerusalem

Table of Contents

Solomon Ibn Gabirol: An Andalusian Alphabet	3	(41)
FROM THE DIWAN OF SOLOMON IBN GABIROL
Truth Seekers Turn	41	(4)
Personal Poems and Poems of Court
I'm Prince to the Poem	45	(1)
My Words Are Driven	46	(1)
Forget About ``If'' and ``Maybe''	47	(2)
Prologue to the Book of Grammar	49	(2)
My Condition Worsened	51	(1)
All My Desire	52	(1)
The Apple: 1	53	(1)
The Rose	54	(1)
See the Sun	55	(1)
They Asked Me As Though They Were Mystified	56	(1)
On Leaving Saragossa	57	(4)
The Moon Was Cut	61	(1)
My Heart Thinks As the Sun Comes Up	62	(1)
The Palace Garden	63	(3)
Winter with Its Ink	66	(1)
The Garden	67	(1)
The Field	68	(1)
The Bee	69	(1)
Isn't the Sky	70	(1)
The Lily	71	(1)
Now the Thrushes	72	(1)
The Apple: II	73	(1)
The Lightning	74	(1)
The Lip of the Cup	75	(1)
I'd Give Up My Soul Itself	76	(1)
Tell the Boy	77	(1)
Be Smart with Your Love	78	(1)
All in Red	79	(1)
Shards	80	(1)
The Apple: III	81	(1)
You've Stolen My Words	82	(1)
The Altar of Song	83	(1)
Tell the Prince	84	(1)
What's Troubling You, My Soul	85	(3)
The Pen	88	(1)
What's With You	89	(1)
God-Fearing Men	90	(1)
Your Soul Strains and You Sigh	91	(3)
Don't Look Back	94	(1)
If This Life's Joy	95	(1)
When You Find Yourself Angry	96	(1)
I Am the Man	97	(2)
And Don't Be Astonished	99	(1)
The Tree	100	(4)
If You'd Live Among Men	104	(1)
Why Are You Frightened	105	(1)
A Kite	106	(1)
And Heart's Hollow	107	(1)
I Love You	108	(3)
Poems of Devotion
Before My Being	111	(1)
Three Things	112	(1)
I Look for You	113	(1)
Forget Your Grief	114	(3)
The Flour of Song	117	(1)
Two Things Meet in Me	118	(1)
Small in My Awe	119	(1)
Open the Gate	120	(1)
My Thoughts Asked Me	121	(1)
Angels Amassing	122	(2)
All the Creatures of Earth and Heaven	124	(2)
He Dwells Forever	126	(3)
And So It Came to Nothing	129	(1)
Haven't I Hidden Your Name	130	(1)
Lord Who Listens	131	(1)
I've Made You My Refuge	132	(1)
Lips for Bullocks	133	(1)
I Take Great Pleasure	134	(1)
Send Your Spirit	135	(1)
You Like in My Palace on Couches of Gold	136	(1)
Kingdom's Crown	137	(60)
Notes	197	(120)
Bibliography	317