Clay in the Potter’s Hand: The Song of Songs and the Case of Lea Goldberg

Besides being the most “European” poet of her generation, Lea Goldberg was also greatly attached to Hebrew cultural tradition and especially to certain biblical books like Genesis, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes. This article studies the modes in which Goldberg artistically uses biblical materials from Song of Songs in her poetry. It transpires that these materials became in her writing a means of concealing as well as exposing and hinting at personal feelings and matters of the heart related to the speaker. The article examines the techniques by which these goals were achieved and shows how Goldberg was mastering the biblical materials rather than being carried away by them.