Yehuda Amichai: Death of My Father (From Hebrew)

Death of My Father
By Yehuda Amichai
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

My father of a sudden from all places
Departed for his strange and distant spaces. 

He had gone to call upon his God
So He might come to our aid with staff and rod.  

And God took up the burden, coming soon
Hanging His jacket on a C of moon,

Though nevermore will God let our father go
Who left to fetch Him for us here below. 

The Original:

Mot Avi

avi pit'om mikol haḥadarim
yatsa lemerḥaqav hamuzarim.

Halox halax liqro leelohav
šehu yavo laˁazor lánu ˁaxšav.

veelohim kvar ba, kemo ṭoréaḥ,
tala et meˁilo ˁal vav-yaréaḥ

ax et avínu šeyatsa lehovilo
yaḥaziq haelohim laˁad etslo.

מוֹת אָבִי

יהודה עמיחי

אָבִי פִּתְאֹם, מִכָּל הַחֲדָרים

יָצָא לְמֶרְחַקָּיו הַמּוּזָרִים. 

הָלוֹךְ הָלַךְ לִקְרֹא לֵאלֹהָיו,

שֶׁהוּא יָבוֹא לַעֲזֹר לָנוּ עַכְשָיו. 

וֵאלֹהִים כְּבָר בָּא, כְּמוֹ טוֹרֵחַ,

תָּלָה אֶת מְעִילוֹ עַל וַו-יָרֵחַ.

אַךְ אֶת אָבִינוּ, שֶׁיָּצָא לְהוֹבִילוֹ,

יַחֲזִיק הָאֱלֹהִים לָעַד אֶצְלוֹ. 

Yehuda Amichai: "The lips of dead men..." (From Hebrew)

"The lips of dead men..."
By Yehuda Amichai
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

The lips of dead men whispered thoughtlessly
A single word of silence in the earth.
Already every flower, every tree
Has wildly overdone its springtime birth.

Bandages are torn off, again undressed
The earth does not want healing. It wants pain.
Spring is not peace at all. Spring is not rest
At all. Spring is enemy terrain. 

We went with other lovers on patrol
To see if we could reach our goal.
We were sent to the End of Rainbow Land, 

And we already knew: the dead return;
Already knew: even the storm is borne
Out of a young girl's open hand.

Audio recording of me reading the original Hebrew:


The Original:

שפתי מתים

יהודה עמיחי

שִׂפְתֵי מֵתִים אָמְרוּ מִלָּה בְּלַחַשׁ

בָּאֲדָמָה, שִׂיחָה לְפִי תֻּמָּם,

וּכְבָר הָאִילָנוֹת, בְּלִי כָּל יַחַס,

הִגְזִימוּ נוֹרָאָה בִּפְרִיחָתָם.

הַתַּחְבּוֹשׁוֹת שׁוּב נִקְרָעוֹת בְּכֹחַ,

הָאֳדָמָה אֵינָהּ רוֹצָה מַרְפֵּא, רוֹצָה כְּאֵב.

וְהָאָבִיב אֵינֶנּוּ שֶׁקֶט, לֹא מָנוֹחַ,

וְהָאָבִיב הוּא אֶרֶץ הָאוֹיֵב.

נִשְׁלַחְנוּ עִם זוּגוֹת הָאוֹהֲבִים, 

פַּטְרוֹל אֶל אֶרֶץ-עֵבֶר-קֶשֶׁת,

לִרְאוֹת הַאִם אֶפְשָׁר לָגֶשֶׁת.

וּכְבָר יָדַעְנוּ, הַמֵּתִים שָׁבִים,

וּכְבָר יָדַעְנוּ, גַּם הַסְּעָרָה

יוֹצֵאת עַכְשָׁו מֵחֹפֶן נַעֲרָה. 

Yehuda Amichai: My Father (From Hebrew)

Every generation that goes to war hopes that the next will not have to do likewise. 

My Father
By Yehuda Amichai
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original Hebrew

Four years my father fought that war of theirs,
And did not love or hate his enemies.
But I know he was forming me, even there,
Day by day, out of his tranquilities,

The precious few tranquilities he gleaned
Between the smoke and bombs for a child's sake
And put them in the knapsack tattered at the seams,
With leftovers of mother's hardening cake.

He gathered with his eyes the nameless dead.
The numerous dead he gathered so I'd know
And love them, seeing them as he saw, instead 

Of dying, as they died, in gore and terror.
He filled his eyes with them. He was in error.
Onward like them to all my wars I go. 

The Original: 

אָבִי

אָבִי הָיָה אַרְבַּע שָׁנִים בְּמִלְחַמְתָּם,
וְלֹא שָׂנֵא אוֹיְבָיו וְלֹא אָהַב. 
אֲבָל אֲנִי יוֹדֵעַ, כִּי כְּבָר שָׁם 
בָּנָה אוֹתִי יוֹם-יוֹם מִשַׁלְווֹתָיו

הַמֻּעָטוֹת כָּל-כָּךְ, אֲשֶׁר לָקַט 
אוֹתָן בֵּין פְּצָצוֹת וּבֵין עָשָׁן,
וְשָׂם אוֹתָן בְּתַרְמִילוֹ הַמְמֻרְטָט
עִם שְׁאֵרִית עֻגַּת-אִמּוֹ הַמִּתְקַשָּׁה.

וּבְעֵינָיו אָסַף מֵתִים בְּלִי שֵּׁם,
מֵתִים רַבִּים אָסַף לְמַעֲנִי,
שֶׁאַכִּירֵם בְּמַבָּטָיו וְאוֹהֲבֵם

וְלֹא אָמוּת כְּמוֹהֶם בַּזְּוָעָה...
הוּא מִלֵּא עֵינָיו בָּהֶם וְהוּא טָעָה:
אֶל כָּל מִלְחֲמוֹתַי יוֹצֵא אֲנִי.

Romanization:

Avi

Aví hayá arbáˁ šaním bemilħamtám

Veló sané oyváv veló aháv.

Avál aní yodéaˁ ki kvar šam 

Baná otí yom-yóm mišalvotáv

Hamuˁatót kol-káx ašér lakát

Otán beyn petsatsót uvéyn ˁašán,

Vesám otán betarmiló hamemurtát

ˁIm še'erít ˁugát-imó hamitkašá.

Uveˁeynáv asáf meytím bli šém

Meytím rabím asáf lemaˁaní

Še'akirém bemabatáv ve'ohavém.

Veló amút kemóhem  bazvaˁá...

Hu milé ˁeynáv bahém vehú taˁá:

El kol milħamotáy yotsé ani. 

Yehuda Amichai: "The two of us together and each one alone" (From Hebrew)

The two of us together and each one alone
By Yehuda Amichai
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original in Hebrew

My dear, another summer's turned dark
And my dad hasn't come to the amusement park.
The seesaw still goes up and down.
The two of us together and each one alone.

The horizon loses its ships off the shore.
Hard to hold onto a thing anymore.
The fighters crouched behind the hill.
How much we need of mercy still!
The two of us together and each one alone.

The moon is sawing the clouds in two.
Let hand-to-hand love bring me against you.
We alone will make love where the two camps fight.
Perhaps we can still make everything right.
The two of us together and each one alone.
 
My love has changed me, it seems plain, 
As the salt sea to drops of sweet first rain.
I am brought to you slowly and falling, my dear.
Receive me. No angel redeems us here.
Because the two of us are together. Each is alone.

The Original:

יהודה עמיחי

שנינו ביחד וכל אחד לחוד

יַלְדָּה שֶׁלִּי, עוֹד קַיִץ עָבַר

וְאָבִי לֹא בָּא לַלּוּנָה-פַּרְק.

הַנַּדְנֵדוֹת מוֹסִיפוֹת לָנוּד.

שְׁנֵינוּ בְּיַחַד וְכָל אֶחָד לְחוּד.

אֹפֶק הַיָּם מְאַבֵּד סְפִינוֹתָיו -

קָשֶׁה לִשְׁמֹר עַל מַשֶּׁהוּ עַכְשָׁו.

מֵאֲחוֹרֵי הָהָר חִכּוּ הַלּוֹחֲמִים.

כַּמָּה זְקוּקִים אָנוּ לְרַחֲמִים.

שְׁנֵינוּ בְּיַחַד וְכָל אֶחָד לְחוּד.

יָרֵחַ מְנַסֵּר אֶת הֶעָבִים לִשְׁנַיִם -

בּוֹאִי וְנֵצֵא לְאַהֲבַת בֵּינַיִם.

רַק שְׁנֵינוּ נֹאהַב לִפְנֵי הַמַּחֲנוֹת.

אוּלַי אֶפְשָׁר עוֹד הַכֹּל לְשַׁנּוֹת.

שְׁנֵינוּ בְּיַחַד וְכָל אֶחָד לְחוּד.

אַהֲבָתִי הָפְכָה אוֹתִי כַּנִּרְאֶה

כְּיָם מָלוּחַ לְטִפּוֹת מְתוּקוֹת שֶׁל יוֹרֶה;

אֲנִי מוּבָא אֵלַיִךְ לְאַט וְנוֹפֵל.

קַבְּלִינִי. אֵין לָנוּ מַלְאָךְ גּוֹאֵל.

כִּי שְׁנֵינוּ בְּיַחַד. כָּל אֶחָד לְחוּד.

Yehuda Amichai: Jerusalem is a Port City (From Hebrew)

A prominent component of the following poem is the Western Wall (i.e. the Wailing Wall) which had finally become accessible to Jews after the conquest of the city's Eastern half in 1967. Indeed on the very day of that conquest, the Israeli military, with the government's assent, set about making the wall more visible by bulldozing the entire Arab neighborhood that had been built right next to it, and creating a massive goliath of a plaza in front for the circulation of tourists and worshippers. As the penultimate part of a 22-part cycle entitled "Jerusalem 1967" written soon after the Six Day War, "Jerusalem is a Port City" angles toward the flavor of excitement that swept the Israeli mindset after the victory. The one after it, by contrast, begins with the words "Jerusalem is Sodom's twin city."

Jerusalem is a Port City
By Yehuda Amichai
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Jerusalem is a port city on the shore of the ages of ages.
The Temple Mount is a great ship, a pleasure yawl
In splendor. From the portholes of her Wailing Wall, jubilant saints
Peer like passengers. Hasidim on the pier wave
Goodbye, yelling hurrah, bon voyage. She
Is always docking, always embarking. And the fences and docks
And policemen and flags and churches' high masts
And the mosques and the smokestacks of synagogues and the chanteys
Of praise and mountain-billows. The ram's horn¹ sounds out sunset: one more
Has set sail. Yom Kippur sailors in white uniforms²
Ascend between the ropes and ladders of tried-and-true prayers.
And the profits of market and gates and goldencap domes:
Jerusalem is the Venice of God.

Notes:

^1- The ram's horn: the shofar blown at sunset at the end of Yom Kippur, signifying the divine judgment of all mortal souls.
^2- Orthodox Jews wearing the white kitel or gown which is traditional for Yom Kippur

The Original:

ירושלים עיר נמל

יהודה עמיחי

יְרוּשָׁלַיִם עִיר נָמָל עַל שְׂפַת הַנֵּצַח.
הַר-הַבַּיִת אֳנִיָּה גְּדוֹלָה, סְפִינַת שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים
מְפֹאֶרֶת. מֵאֶשְׁנַבֵּי כָּתְלָהּ הַמַּעֲרָבִי מִסְתַּכְּלִים קְדוֹשִׁים
עַלִּיזִים, נוֹסְעִים. חֲסִידִים בָּרָצִיף מְנַפְנְפִים
לְשָׁלוֹם, צוֹעֲקִים הֵידָד לְהִתְרָאוֹת. הִיא
תָּמִיד מַגִּיעָה, תָּמִיד מַפְלִיגָה. וְהַגְּדֵרוֹת וְהָרְצִיפִים
וְהַשּׁוֹטְרִים וְהַדְּגָלִים וְהַתְּרָנִים הַגְּבוֹהִים שֶׁל כְּנֵסיּוֹת
וּמִסְגָּדִים וְהָאֲרֻבּוֹת שֶׁל בָּתֵּי הַכְּנֶסֶת וְהַסִּירוֹת 
שֶׁל הַלֵּל וְגַלֵּי הָרִים. קוֹל שׁוֹפָר נִשְׁמַע: עוֹד
אַחַת הִפְלִיגָה. מַלָּחֵי יוֹם-כִּפּוּר בְּמַדִּים לְבָנִים
מְטַפְּסִים בֵּין סֻלָּמוֹת וַחֲבָלִים שֶׁל תְּפִילוֹת בְּדוּקוֹת.
וְהַמַּשָּׂא וּמַתָּן וְהַשְּׁעָרִים וְכִפּוֹת הַזָּהָב:
יְרוּשָׁלַיִם הִיא וֶנֶצִיָה שֶׁל אֱלֹהִים.

Yehuda Amichai: Ein Yahav (From Modern Hebrew)

Ein Yahav
By Yehuda Amichai
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

A night drive to Ein Yahav¹ in the Arabah.
A drive in the rain. Yes, in the rain.
There, I met people who grow date palms.
There, I saw great tamarisk trees² and great risk trees
There, I saw hope barbed like barbed wire
And I said to myself: It is the truth. Hope must be
Like barbed wire to keep out our despair.
Hope must be a minefield.

Notes:
¹- Ein Yahav is a moshav (farming community) whose name literally translates to "Wellspring of Hope" situated in the Arabah, a desert that straddles part of the Israeli-Jordanian border.

²- Mention of Tamarisk trees alludes to Genesis 21:33 "And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God." Planting a tamarisk was a sign of Abraham's covenant with Abimelech, granting him permission to live in the land of the Philistines. Here it is a metaphor for a possibility of the Jewish state making peace with the Arab states surrounding it.

The Original:

יהודה עמיחי

עין יהב

נסיעה לילית לעין יהב בערבה

נסיעה בגשם. כן בגשם.

שם פגשתי אנשים שמגדלים תמרים.

שם ראיתי עצי אשל ועצי אשליה.

שם ראיתי תקוה דוכרנית כמו תיל דוקרני

ואמרתי בלבי: אמת, התקוה צריכה להיות

כמו תיל כדי להגן עלינו מן היאוש.

התקוה צריכה להיות שדה מוקשים