Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

106 JEHUDAH HALEVI

63

THE DOVE AFAR

The dove, afar,¹ she flieth about the forests;
She stumbleth, she cannot shake herself free.
Flying, flitting, fluttering,
Round about her belovèd she swirleth, she
stormeth.

She deemed a thousand years would be the

limit of her set time,
But she is ashamed of all whereon she counted.³
Her Belovèd who hath afflicted her with long
years of separation
isa. 53,12. Hath poured out her soul to the grave.

"Lo," she saith, "I will not make mention
any more of His name;"
jer. 20,9. But it is within her heart like a burning fire.
Why wilt Thou be as an enemy to her, since
she

Openeth wide her mouth for the rain of thy
salvation?

And she maketh her soul believe and despaireth
not,

job 14,21. Whether she win honour in His name or
whether she be brought low.
Our God shall come and shall not keep silence;
Ps. 50,3. All round about Him is fire; it stormeth
exceedingly.

¹ See the heading of Ps. 56, .יונת אלם רחוקים

² The exile, to last 1000 years, should have ended in