Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

72 JEHUDAH HALEVI

Cant. 4,13. The garden of her plants have we sought early
Ps. 78,21• With the daughter of the vine, that burneth
with flames of love—
Cold as the cold snow in the hand of him that

holdeth her,
But within him she is like a kindling fire:
Out of an earthen vessel she riseth like the
sun ¹ן

We bring a cup of onyx and she is poured forth.
With her we walk under the shadows, about
The garden that laugheth through the weeping

of the showers;
That rejoiceth while the tears of the clouds

are on her face,
Like a sprinkling of crystals scattered from a
necklace;

That is glad for the swallow's voice, as for
sweet wine,²

Nahum 2,8. And the voice of the dove cooing and taking
Ezek. 7,16. sweet counsel,

Singing through her leaves as a maiden singeth
Nahum 2,5. Through her veil, leaping and flitting to and fro.

My soul seeketh eagerly for the morning wind,
For therein it embraceth the perfume of the
belovèd—

The wind that playeth with the myrtle to

make it waft
Its perfume to them that love, but are very
far away.

¹ fcnn "earthen" and חרס "the sun" are identical in sound

י This for the sake of the similarity in sound in the
words 9ק1י& סיס and עסיס