Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

40 JEHUDAH HALEVI

And he setteth his delight

In the burnings of his bosom,
And the floods of his tears

Are like streams of the rivers.
He goeth up by the hills,
p_s. 104,8. He goeth down by the valleys,

To perform oaths,

To fulfil vows;
He journeyeth, he wandereth,

He passeth by Egypt,
Toward the land of Canaan,

Toward the chosen of mountains.
The reproofs of his adversaries

Are renewed round about him,
But he heareth and is silent,
Exod. 4,10. Like a man without words;

For how long should he strive with them

And how long refute them,
And why should he harass them,

Seeing they are drunken?
But how call him happy

In the bondage of kings,
Which is in his eyes

But a service of idols?
Were it well to be happy
job.1,1; 2,3. For a man simple and upright,

Like a bird that is bound

In the hand of little boys—
In slavery to Philistines,

And Hagrites and Hittites,¹
Alluring his heart
With other gods
¹ Probably indicating Berbers, Mohammedans and
Christians.