Masadah

Yitshak Lamdan

1927

Myths Told Me

On an autumn night, on a bed of sorrows, far from home and shattered hearth,
My mother died;
A last tear froze in her eyes as she gasped a dying blessing
To me, her son, setting forth for far-off alien fields of battle,
An army kitbag weighing down my back . . .
On grave-studded pain-packed Ukrainian roads
My soft-eyed innocent…
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Creator Bio

Yitshak Lamdan

1899–1954

Hebrew-language poet, editor, translator, and essayist Yitshak Lamdan was born in Mlinov (in present-day Ukraine) and received both a religious and a secular education. Lamdan was a committed communist in his youth and volunteered for the Red Army during the revolution, but soon left Europe for Palestine, where he settled in 1920. In 1927, he published the influential epic poem in Hebrew entitled Metzada (Massada, in this translation), drawing parallels between the ancient Jews of Masada and current Zionism. An established literary presence in the State of Israel, Lamdan was the editor of the literary monthly Gilyonot and a member of the central committee of the Hebrew Writers Association. From 1954 to 1983, the Lamdan Prize was given in his memory to the best works of Hebrew literature for children and youth.

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