Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

71 JEHUDAH HALEVI

39

TO RABBI ISAAC THE ORPHAN

Earth, like a little child, was sucking
But yesterday the rains of winter, with a

cloud for nurse;
Or she was a bride prisoned by the winter,
Whose soul was yearning for the times of love.
She longed for the wooing-time until the

summer came,
And then the longing heart was healed,
cant. 5,13. With raiment of golden terraces and broidered
work of linen, she is like a maid
Delighting, revelling in her fair attire;
Each day she maketh changes in her broideries
And apportioneth apparel unto all about her.
From day to day she changeth the colours of
her plants

From hue of pearl to sard and emerald.¹
White is she now and green, and now she is
red;

She is like a fair one kissing her belovèd.
So beautiful are her flowers that meseemeth
She hath robbed the very stars on high.

¹ For alternative renderings in English of names of
precious stones, see British Museum (Natural History)
Special Guide (No 5) to Exhibition of Animals, Plants,
and Minerals mentioned in the Bible, sec. ed. London, 1911.