Masterpieces of Hebew Literature: Selections from 2000 Years of Jewish Creativity

HEBREW POETRY—THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPAIN:Introduction

Hebrew Poetry — The Golden Age of Spain Samuel ha-Nagid Samuel ha-Nagid (993-1056) of Cordova, Spain, the author of more than 1700 poems, was among the first Hebrew poets to write secular verse. A student at one of the talmudic academies founded by Hasdai ibn Shaprut, Samuel ha-Nagid not only wrote on matters of Talmud and halakha, but was also interested in Hebrew language and grammar, and after becoming vizier to the King of Granada, led his armies in battle. Samuel ha-Nagid is one of the finest composers of wine songs in Hebrew literature and one of the rare poets of Hebrew martial verse. Utilizing meter and rhyme, Samuel wrote nature and love poetry, and songs of friendship—models that were popular in Arabic poetry; he also composed dirges, liturgies and poems brimming with deep Jewish nationalism. The versatile Samuel was a statesman, diplomat, general and a patron of and a contributor to Jewish learning, whose poetry and erudition were praised by Muslims and Jews alike. His three works, based on Biblical books, are Ben Tehillim (Psalms), his most oft-quoted composition, Ben Mishley (Proverbs), and Ben Kohellet (Ecclesiastes), each of which are modelled respectively on prayer, proverbs and philosophic wisdom. He also assembled a collection of halakhic decisions, wrote books on Hebrew grammar and language, and a treatise, Introduction to the Talmud, 170 THE GOLDEN AGE OF SPAIN 171 which deals with the methodology and technical terms of the Talmud. Prior to Samuel ha-Nagid, Hebrew poetry was mainly religious and liturgical in character. With Samuel, however, the Golden Age (eleventh to the end of the twelfth century), the most fertile period of Hebrew creativity between Biblical times and the modern renaissance of Hebrew letters, comes into full fruition. Solomon ibn Gabirol With the flourishing of Solomon ibn Gabirol (1020-1056[?]), who lived during the lifetime of his illustrious predecessor and patron, Samuel ha-Nagid, the Golden Age reached one of its heights. Little information about his life is available, but his evidently autobiographical poems offer some facts. Born in Malaga, he was raised in Saragossa, a center of Jewish learning. Like others in Spain ibn Gabirol received an extensive secular as well as Jewish education. He was well-versed in the Bible, had a perfect command of Hebrew grammar, and studied Arabic, Arabic poetry and philosophy—all of which aided him in mastering the strict forms imposed by the Arabic prosody that Hebrew had adopted. Orphaned early in his life, ibn Gabirol suffered constantly from tuberculosis. At twenty-eight he left his home town owing to a continuing conflict between him and the town fathers (his pointed satire angered the pillars of the community), and he moved to Granada where his patron was Samuel haNagid . Ibn Gabirol wrote secular and sacred poems. In his secular poetry, wherein he utilized all the techniques of meter, rhyme and alliteration, the poet bemoans his fate and describes the injustice in life, the pain of illness and poverty, and nature poems that are usually linked to the poet's spiritual state. The secular poems are personal (if the personal can be distinguished from the conventional elements), perhaps somewhat romantic, and formalized according to the prevailing Arabic models. In expressing the attitude of the individual poet versus the world, these poems are to a degree comparable to the nineteenth century English romantic school of poetry. Not as widely known as his sacred poems (which were preserved in the prayer books of the Ashkenazim and Sephardim), ibn GabiroPs secular poetry was discovered by scholars in recent generations. 172 MASTERPIECES OF HEBREW LITERATURE Whereas in the secular poetry, ibn Gabirol stands as individual qua individual, in the sacred poetry the persona assumes the guise of a collective entity, representing the national spirit of the people of Israel. In his outpouring to God he addresses not only the universal Creator, but also the God of the Three Patriarchs, the God of Israel who revealed himself at Sinai. These poems, in which generations of Jews saw an expression of their own longing, epitomized the sorrow and pain of centuries of exile, and the people's expectation of salvation. Besides being a poet, ibn Gabirol was also a philosopher, the first to introduce neo-Platonism into Europe. His Arabic text, preserved only in its Latin translation, Fons Vitae, strongly influenced the Christian scholastics of the Middle Ages. Since the author's name...