Selected Poems (Engelse vertaling)

152 JEHUDAH HALEVI

There the Shekhinah dwelt; to thee was given

Thy Maker's Presence when He opened there
The gates of thee toward the gates of Heaven.

And only glory from the Lord was thine
For light; and moon and stars and sunshine
waned,

Nor gave more light unto thy light divine.

O I would choose but for my soul to pour

Itself where then the Spirit of God remained
Outpoured upon thy chosen ones of yore.

Thou art the royal house; thou art the throne
Of God; and how come slaves to sit at last
Upon the thrones which were thy lords' alone?

Would I were wandering in those places dear
Where God revealed Himself in ages past,
Showing His light to messenger and seer!

And who will make me wings that I may fly,

That I may take my broken heart away
And lay its ruins where thy ruins lie?

Prostrate upon thine earth, I fain would thrust

Myself, delighting in thy stones, and lay
Exceeding tender hold upon thy dust.

Yea, more, at Hebron, by the tombs in her

Of mine own fathers, I would stand and gaze
In wonder at thy chosen sepulchre;