Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (ebook)

Argumento de Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol (ebook)

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 acclaimed Selected Poems of Shmuel HaNagid presents 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.

"Being medieval, these poems inevitably demonstrate the scope of religious language in their explorations of nature, drink, love, sex, boasting, friendship and loneliness. They are by turns, witty, satirical, elegiac--and always allusive."--Jane Liddell-King, Jewish Chronicle

"Taut, light-footed translations . . . remarkable in the degree to which they carry over the distinct poetic complexities of the original while retaining a crisp, contemporary sense of American poetics . . . the quality of motion and emotion comes through directly."--Publisher's Weekly

"Peter Cole's versions of Ibn Gabirol far surpass any previously available in English. "Kingdom's Crown" is particularly magnificent and is a superb literary achievement in itself."--Harold Bloom

"Peter Cole's work is an entire revelation: a body of lyric and didactic verse so intense, so intelligent, and so vivid that it appears to identify a whole dimension of historical consciousness previously unavailable to us. His work represents the finest labor of poetic translation that I have seen in many years. I am wildly enthusiastic about this fine translation of Ibn Gabirol. It is a service to readers and to literature."--Richard Howard, Poetry Editor, Paris Review, winner of the 1983 National Book Award for his translation of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal0Solomon Ibn Gabirol: An Andalusian Alphabet 3
FROM THE DIWAN OF SOLOMON IBN GABIROL
Truth Seekers Turn 41
PERSONAL POEMS AND POEMS OF COURT
I'm Prince to the Poem 45
My Words Are Driven 46
Forget About ''If'' and ''Maybe'' 47
Prologue to the Book of Grammar 49
My Condition Worsened 51
All My Desire 52
The Apple: I 53
The Rose 54
See the Sun 55
They Asked Me As Though They Were Mystified 56
On Leaving Saragossa 57
The Moon Was Cut 61
My Heart Thinks As the Sun Comes Up 62
The Palace Garden 63
Winter with Its Ink 66
The Garden 67
The Field 68
The Bee 69
Isn't the Sky 70
The Lily 71
Now the Thrushes 72
The Apple: II 73
The Lightning 74
The Lip of the Cup 75
I'd Give Up My Soul Itself 76
Tell the Boy 77
Be Smart with Your Love 78
All in Red 79
Shards 80
The Apple: III 81
You've Stolen My Words 82
The Altar of Song 83
Tell the Prince 84
What's Troubling You, My Soul 85
The Pen 88
What's With You 89
God-Fearing Men 90
Your Soul Strains and You Sigh 91
Don't Look Back 94
If This Life's Joy 95
When You Find Yourself Angry 96
I Am the Man 97
And Don't Be Astonished 99
The Tree 100
If You'd Live Among Men 104
Why Are You Frightened 105
A Kite 106
And Heart's Hollow 107
I Love You 108
POEMS OF DEVOTION
Before My Being 111
Three Things 112
I Look for You 113
Forget Your Grief 114
The Hour of Song 117
Two Things Meet in Me 118
Small in My Awe 119
Open the Gate 120
My Thoughts Asked Me 121
Angels Amassing 122
All the Creatures of Earth and Heaven 124
He Dwells Forever 126
And So It Came to Nothing 129
Haven't I Hidden Your Name 130
Lord Who Listens 131
I've Made You My Refuge 132
Lips for Bullocks 133
I Take Great Pleasure 134
Send Your Spirit 135
You Lie in My Palace on Couches of Gold 136
KINGDOM'S CROWN 137
Notes 197
Bibliography 317