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The
following poem draws its inspiration from Song of Songs 7:1-2
"Turn back, turn back, O maid of Shulem! Turn back, turn back, That
we may gaze upon you. 'Why will you gaze at the Shulammite in the Mahanaim
dance?' How lovely are your feet in sandals, O daughter of nobles! Your
rounded thighs are like jewels, The work of a master's hand. (JPS
translation)
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Shulamit
(Song of Songs)
Gustave Moreau
(1826-1898)
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enlarged
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Day
and night she dances,
between the suns
she dreams
By day she is the moon
turning
on the underside of earth
At
night she is the windmill
waving
above the city walls.
Dusk, she is
Shulamit
As she turns
the warriors chant her praises,
her thighs spin like jugs
on the potter's wheel,
her belly is round
with promise
Everywhere she moves
she captures
kings in the moats
of her eyes,
worlds in the locks
of her hair
Day
and night she dances,
between the suns
she dreams
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 From:
Howard Schwartz and Anthony Rudolf, eds., Voices Within the Ark: The
Modern Jewish Poets -- An International Anthology (New York: Morrow/Avon,
1980). |
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Poet,
translator, and Judaic scholar, Marcia
Falk is the author of the highly acclaimed The Book of Blessings:
New Jewish Prayers for Daily Life, the Sabbath, and the New Moon
Festival. Her Song of Songs: A New Translation and Interpretation
(Harper San Francisco, 1990) won international acclaim.
Clothbound
copies of Marcia Falk's Book of Blessings are available at a
quantity discount from the author.
The Spectacular Difference, a volume of her translations of the
poet Zelda, will be published by Hebrew Union College Press in 2003.
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DREAMS
Table of Contents
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