Yehudah HaLevi Poems

Into my eyes he lovingly looked,
My arms about his neck were twined,
And in the mirror of my eyes,
What but his image did he find?
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Cups without wine are low things
Like a pot thrown to the ground,
But brimming with the juice, they shine
Like body and soul.
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My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west—
How can I find savour in food? How shall it be sweet to me?
How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet
Zion lieth beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains?
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God, whom shall I compare to Thee,
When Thou to none canst likened be?
Under what image shall I dare
To picture Thee, when everywhere
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O Lord, my life was known to Thee
Ere Thou had’st caused me yet to be,
Thy spirit ever dwells in me.
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Do these tears know who made them fall?
Do these hearts know who made them recoil?
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When Fortune's shield protects you, then beware --
Tomorrow, for your foot she sets a snare.
Her gift, an eaglet's pinion -- now your flight,
Anon, the lethal arrow -- to upbear!
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Ever since You were the home of love for me, my love has lived where You have lived. Because of You, I have delighted in the wrath of my enemies; let them be, let them torment the one whom You tormented
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Long in the lap of childhood didst thou sleep,
Think how thy youth like chaff did disappear;
Shall life’s sweet Spring forever last? Look up,
Old age approaches ominously near.
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The night when the fair maiden revealed the likeness of her form to me,
The warmth of her cheeks, the veil of her hair,
Golden like a topaz, covering
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