Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Ibn Gabirol

Princeton University Press, 04.03.2001 - 326 Seiten

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.

Inhalt

• An Andalusian Alphabet: 3
• Truth Seekers Turn: 41
• Forget About If and Maybe: 47
• I: 53
• The Moon Was Cut: 61
• The Garden: 67
• II: 73
• All in Red: 79
• Whats Troubling You My Soul: 85
• Your Soul Strains and You Sigh: 91
• Am the Man: 97
• If Youd Live Among Men: 104
• Before My Being: 111
• The Hour of Song: 117
• All the Creatures of Earth and Heaven: 124
• Hidden Your Name: 130
• Lord Who Listens: 131
• Notes: 197
• Bibliography: 317

Über den Autor

Peter Cole has published two volumes of poems and six volumes of translation from medieval and contemporary Hebrew and Arabic. He has received numerous awards for his work, including fellowships from the NEA and the NEH, and for his Selected Poems of Shmuel HaNagid the MLA-Scaglione Prize for Translation. He lives in Jerusalem.

Bibliografische Informationen

• Titel: Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol; The Lockert Library of Poetry in Translation
• Autor/in: Ibn Gabirol
• Übersetzt von: Peter Cole
• Ausgabe: illustriert
• Verlag: Princeton University Press, 2001
• ISBN: 0691070326, 9780691070322
• Länge: 326 Seiten