Jerusalem 1967

Yehuda Amichai

1968

1

This year I traveled a long way
to view the silence of my city.
A baby calms down when you rock it, a city calms down
from the distance. I dwelled in longing. I played the hopscotch
of the four strict squares of Yehudah Ha-Levi:
My heart. Myself. East. West.
I heard bells ringing in the religions of time,
but the wailing that I heard inside me
h…
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Creator Bio

Yehuda Amichai

1924–2000
Born Ludwig Pfeuffer in Germany, Yehuda Amichai was a poet, author, translator, and playwright. His family left Germany when he was eleven and settled in Jerusalem. During World War II, Amichai served with the British army; he also fought in Israel’s War of Independence. Amichai wrote poetry, prose fiction, children’s books, translations, and plays, often playing everyday language against that of the Hebrew Bible and Jewish liturgy. Love and war were central themes of his writing. Amichai received the Israel Prize in 1982.

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