יהודה עמיחי תּל-גּת Yehuda Amichai Tel Gat

הבאתי את ילדי אל התּל שבּו היוּ לי קרבות לפנים
שיבינו למעשי שעשיתי
ויסלחו לי על מעשי שלּא עשיתי

המּרחק בּין רגלי הצּועדות וּבין ראשי
הולך וגדל ואני הולך וקטן
הימים ההם הולכים ממּני והלאה
  וגם הזּמן הזּה הולך ממּני
ואני בּאמצע, בּלעדיהם, על התּל הזּה
עם ילדַי

רוּח צהרים נושבת קלּה
אך רק מעטּים נעים נעים בּרוּח הנּושבת
מתכּופפים קצת עם עשב ופרחים
חרציות רבּות מכסּות את התּל
ואפשר לומר, כחרציות לרב

הבאתי את ילדי אל התּל
וישבנוּ עלי גּבּהּ וצדּהּ
כּמו בּשּיר של שמוּאל הנּגיד
איש תּל ואיש מלחמות כּמוני
ששּר שיר  ערשׂ לחיּליו לפני הקּרב

אך לא דבּרתי אל לבּי, כּמוהוּ

אלּא אל ילדי. והיינוּ תחית המּתים של התּל
וגם היא זמנּית כּאביב הזּה, ונצחית כּמוה

I brought my kids to the knoll

where I engaged in hand to hand combat

so they could understand the things I´d done

and forgive me the things I´d left undone.

The distance between my thought and

my stride grows while I shrink.

The days go by and the time flies.

I´m completely at their mercy,

upon this knoll

with my children.

The afternoon breeze blows lightly

but brings only brief relief,

bending the grass and flowers a little.

Chrysanthemums carpet the knoll.

One could say they were in abundance.

I brought my kids to the knoll.

We sat down "upon its slopes"

like in the song by Samuel Ha-Nagid,

a knoll man and a man of wars like me,

who sang a lullaby to his soldiers before battle.

I don´t pray like he did.

Instead I speak to my kids

and we resurrect the knoll´s dead.

It´s temporary like this Spring and eternal like him.

  

translated into English by Mark F Westergreen
____________________________________________________________

   הבילויים תנשב הרוח

War Poet

Beyond Amichai

 

الخنساء يا عَينِ جودي بدَمعٍ منكِ مَسكُوبِ Oh my magnanimous one for you tears pour out, Al-khansa

يا عَينِ جودي بدَمعٍ منكِ مَسكُوبِ      كلؤلؤٍ جالَ في الأسْماطِ مَثقوبِ
انّي تذكَّرتهُ وَالَّليلُ معتكرٌ                ففِي فؤاديَ صدعٌ غيرُ مشعوبِ

نِعْمَ الفتى كانَ للأضْيافِ إذْ نَزَلوا      وسائِلٍ حَلّ بَعدَ النّوْمِ مَحْرُوبِ
كمْ منْ منادٍ دعا وَ الَّليلُ مكتنعٌ          نفَّستَ عنهُ حبالَ الموتِ مكروبِ
وَ منْ اسيرٍ بلاَ شكرٍ جزاكَ بهِ          بِساعِدَيْهِ كُلُومٌ غَيرُ تَجليبِ
فَكَكْتَهُ، ومَقالٍ قُلْتَهُ حَسَنٍ                 بعدَ المَقالَة ِ لمْ يُؤبَنْ بتَكْذيبِ

Oh my magnanimous one for you tears pour out as precious as pearls strung upon a string.

I´m reminded of him and that fateful night in which my heart broke, never to be repaired.

How excellent the young hero was to unannounced visitors. He even set an enemy free after allowing him respite.

How often as night drew near did he dispel death´s fear from one who announced its anxiety,

or recompensed a prisoner with no expectation of exaltation, tending his wounds without display,

redeeming him and teaching a more noble way. After such a demonstration he did not deny your commemoration.

translated into English by Mark F Westergreen

 

יהודה עמיחי, אני רוצה לבלבל את התנ"ך Yehuda Amichai, I want to turn the Bible into babble

מָטוֹס עוֹבֵר מֵעַל לַתְּאֵנָה
אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר תַּחַת תְּאֵנָתוֹ
הַטַּיָּס הוּא אֲנִי וְהָאִישׁ תַּחַת הַתְּאֵנָה הוּא אֲנִי
אֲנִי רוֹצֶה לְבַלְבֵּל אֶת התנ"ך
אֲנִי כָּל כָּךְ רוֹצֶה לְבַלְבֵּל אֶת הַתַּנַ"ךְ

אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בָּאִילָנוֹת, לֹא כְּמוֹ שֶׁפַּעַם הֶאֱמִינוּ
אֱמוּנָתִי קְטוּעָה וְקִצְרַת מוֹעֵד
עַד הָאָבִיב הַבָּא, עַד הַחֹרֶף הַבָּא
אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בְּבִיאַת הַגֶּשֶׁם וּבְבוֹא הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ
הַסֵּדֶר וְהַצֶּדֶק מְבֻלְבָּלִים: טוֹב וָרָע
עַל הַשֻּׁלְחָן לְפָנַי כְּמֶלַח וּכְפִלְפֵּל
הַכֵּלִים כָּל כָּךְ דּוֹמִים. אֲנִי כָּל כָּךְ
רוֹצֶה לְבַלְבֵּל אֶת הַתַּנַ"ךְ. הָעוֹלָם
מָלֵא דַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, הָעוֹלָם מָלֵא לִמּוּד
צִפֳּרִים לוֹמְדוֹת מִן הָרוּחַ הַנּוֹשֶׁבֶת
וּמְטוֹסִים לוֹמְדִים מִן הַצִּפֳּרִים
וּבְנֵי אָדָם לוֹמְדִים מִכֻּלָּם וְשׁוֹכְחִים
הָאֲדָמָה אֵינָהּ עֲצוּבָה מִשּׁוּם שֶׁמֵּתִים קְבוּרִים בָּהּ
כְּשֵׁם שֶׁשִּׂמְלַת אֲהוּבָתִי אֵינָהּ שְׂמֵחָה
שֶׁהִיא חַיָּה בְּתוֹכָהּ

יַלְדֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם הֵם עֲנָנִים
וַאֲרָרָט הוּא עֵמֶק עֲמֹק
וַאֲנִי לֹא רוֹצֶה לַחְזֹר אֶל בֵּיתִי
כִּי אֶל הַבַּיִת מַגִּיעוֹת כָּל הַבְּשׂוֹרוֹת הָרָעוֹת
כְּמוֹ בְּסֵפֶר אִיּוֹב

הֶבֶל הָרַג אֶת קַיִן וּמֹשֶׁה נִכְנַס
לָאָרֶץ הַמֻּבְטַחַת וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נִשְׁאֲרוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר
אֲנִי נוֹסֵעַ בְּמַעֲשֵׂי הַמֶּרְכָּבָה שֶׁל יְחֶזְקֵאל
וִיחֶזְקֵאל עַצְמוֹ רוֹקֵד כְּמִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה
בְּגֵיא הָעֲצָמוֹת הַיְּבֵשׁוֹת

סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה מִתְפַּתְּחוֹת
וְאֵשֶׁת לוֹט הָיְתָה לִנְצִיב סֻכָּר וּדְבַשׁ
וְדָוִיד מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי וְקַיָּם
אֲנִי כָּל כָּךְ

רוֹצֶה לְבַלְבֵּל אֶת הַתַּנַ"ךְ

Radio-controlled_aircraft

A plane passes over the fig tree that

shades the man who is under his fig tree.
I´m both the pilot and the man under the fig tree.

I want to turn the Bible into babble,

I really want to turn the Bible into babble.

I believe in trees, but not like they used to believe.

My belief is truncated and very short,

until Fall arrives, until Winter arrives.

I believe in the coming of the rain

and the setting of the sun.

Order and Justice are babble: Good and Evil
on the table before me like Salt and Pepper.

Silent artifacts. I really
want to turn the Bible into babble,

The world is filled with the knowledge of good and evil,
and also opportunities to learn.

Birds learn from the breeze

and pilots learn from the birds.

Humans learn from everything, then forget.

The Earth isn´t sad on account of the dead buried within her

just as my favorite robe isn´t happy that she lives in it.

Kids are clouds,

Mount Ararat is a deep valley,

and I don´t want to return home

because that´s where I receive all the bad news

like in the book of Job.

Abel killed Cain.

Moses entered the Promised Land,

and the children of Israel still wander the desert.

I travel in Ezekiel´s magic chariot,

and Ezekiel dances like Miriam the prophetess

in the valley of Dry Bones.

Sodom and Gomorrah have been developed,

and Lot´s wife is an ice cream cone chain.

David, King of Israel, is alive and well.

I really want to turn the Bible into babble.

translated into English by Mark F Westergreen

Commentary:

Genesis 11 

Reminds me of that wonderful song by Dolly Parton "the Grass is Blue"

Why does Yehuda Amichai want to turn the Bible into babble?

In this particular poem the poet expresses his frustration with the Bible´s continuous assertion and influence upon the modern language and culture. As poet, he is in love with the language. He wants to set it free from its constraints so it will fly and sing new songs in new forms that are oriented towards the future and not the past. But such a task with regard to the modern language is no mean feat because the language is laced throughout with echoes from the Ur-text that informs it and continuously hearkens it to its past. Like the term "לבלבל" "to confuse, confound or mix up" that is rooted in the biblical story of the tower of Babel and the term "בלל". In a sense, the modern language will not forsake its first love. The Bible is now the cultural monolith that must be scattered and confounded in order for the language to be set free. But such a feat really is godlike. Only a poet could attempt it. Humans cannot be counted upon because they are trapped within the language game and always forget. The poem functions to serve the poet´s wish fulfillment, and like in Dolly Parton´s song, he has to pretend that the opposite is true.

I have translated the term "לבלבל" as "babble" because it preserves the denotation, connotation and onomatopoeia of the word used by Amichai.

Kids are clouds יַלְדֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם הֵם עֲנָנִים :
Kids are a common theme in Amichai´s poetry. It is a reference to children being an omen and symbol of the future. They are still malleable and can learn a new language and a new song in contrast to adult humans. In another poem he says, like spotlights kids light up the next century
 ילדי מאירים את המאה הבאה כמו זרקורים .