Sensual Medieval Poem of the Day: Judah Halevi

[transemacabre]

Judah Halevi (or Yehuda Halevi) was another Jewish poet, and a close friend of Moses ibn Ezra. He was well-traveled and well-educated, and a master of secular and religious poetry.


Into my eyes he loving looked,
My arms around his neck were twined,
And in the mirror of my eyes,
What but his image did he find?

Upon my dark-hued eyes he pressed
His lips with breath of passion rare.
The rogue! Was not my eyes he kissed;
He kissed his image mirrored there.

There is little more devastating than realizing that you are loved for all the wrong reasons. Truly timeless and human.

Comments

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

That's good. Very good.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I came across this poem a few weeks ago at Limmud (http://www.limmud.org), and have just spent the last quarter of an hour googling in vain for the original Hebrew. I don't suppose you know it, by any chance?