Love Poems: A Bilingual Edition

Yehuda Amichai, Israeli's greatest modern poet, has demanded a level of respect which has given to us, his readers, several excellent collections of his poems, often in bi-lingual editions. `Love Poems' is one such work, and here the reader is treated to some of Amichai's most sensuous, evocative work. Amichai was one of the first Hebrew poets to use "vernacular" Hebrew, the Hebrew used in common, everyday situations, rather than the elevated diction of poetic Hebrew, which was disconnected, in meaningful ways, form the spoken language. That is not found here. Amichai is earthy, even bawdy in his Hebrew, using evocative and pungent images of love and sex. The Hebrew and English, side by side, give those with some knowledge of the language a chance to see how a vernacular can be elevated to poetic diction without losing touch with its roots.

I have long loved this bilingual edition of Amichai's poetry - I studied modern Hebrew prior to studying Biblical Hebrew; I chanced upon this book on a friend's shelf while studying, and was presented with the volume as a gift for successful completion of the modern Hebrew class. This text presents 49 poems in dual language format, the original Hebrew on the left pages, and the corresponding English translation on the right. The translations come from a variety of persons - this is not a word-for-word rendering, but a poetic interpretation. Amichai, knowledgeable in English himself, together with the noted poet Ted Hughes, translated a good number of the poems into English.These poems are gleanings from several collections of Amichai's poetry, including some volumes that are available in English. They are a testament to the kind of emotion and love that exists in all kinds of settings, but particularly the setting of the new country of Israel, grown out of the people who survived the terrible war in Europe, and into a controversial place in the world. Amichai was born in Germany in 1924, but immigrated to Israel as a boy of 12; he began writing poetry early, especially in the exuberant atmosphere of the newly proclaimed Israel in 1948. Amichai continued to write poetry throughout the twentieth century (he died in 2000), winning national and international prizes and recognition as one of the greatest poets of the age, not only of Hebrew, but internationally. As modern Hebrew is a language still emerging from the shadows of its ancient-but-still-used predecessor, Amichai was a major figure in developing the poetic nuances of the language that helped to expand the limits of meaning in words and usage.Some poems have decided biblical and religious connections, even if they are not religious in tone or direct meaning. 'Jacob and the Angel' obviously takes its title from the early story in Genesis, but beyond that, the context and content is very different. Some show the international character of modern Israeli experience - 'A Czech Refugee in London' reflects this. Many poems, while decidedly Amichai, could have been written anywhere, and the situations and feelings of love are universal.Great poems!