Dan Pagis (October 16, 1930 – June 29, 1986) was an Israeli

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, lecturer and

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivor.

Biography

Dan Pagis was born in Rădăuţi,

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and imprisoned as a child in a concentration camp in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. He escaped in 1944 and

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1946. Pagis earned his PhD from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

where he later taught

Medieval Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was pro ...

. His first published book of poetry was ''Sheon ha-Tsel'' ("The Shadow Clock") in 1959. In 1970 he published a major work entitled ''Gilgul'' – which may be translated as "Revolution, cycle, transformation, metamorphosis, metempsychosis," etc. Other poems include: "Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car," "Testimony, "Europe, Late," "Autobiography," and "Draft of a Reparations Agreement." Pagis knew many languages, and translated multiple works of literature. Pagis died of cancer in Israel on June 29, 1986. His most widely cited poem is "Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car". The literary scholar Nili Gold has described Dan Pagis as an example of a writer whose work reveals the influence of "Mother Tongue" oral and written culture on their Hebrew writing. She has situated Pagis in this way among a group of Hebrew-language writers that includes Yoel Hoffman,

Yehuda Amichai Yehuda Amichai ( he, יהודה עמיחי; born Ludwig Pfeuffer 3 May 1924 – 22 September 2000) was an Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew in modern times. Amichai was awarded the 1957 Shlonsky Prize, the ...

Natan Zach Nathan Zach (13 December 1930 – 6 November 2020; Hebrew: נתן זך) was an Israeli poet. Widely regarded as one of the preeminent poets in the country's history, he was awarded the Israel Prize in 1995 for poetry. He was also the recipie ...

, and

Aharon Appelfeld Aharon Appelfeld ( he, אהרן אפלפלד; born Ervin Appelfeld; February 16, 1932 – January 4, 2018) was an Israeli novelist and Holocaust survivor. Biography Ervin Appelfeld was born in Jadova Commune, Storojineț County, in the Bukovina ...

Published works

Poetry

* ''The Shadow Dial'' (Sifriat Poalim, 1959 Shaon Ha-Tzel) * ''Late Leisure'' (Sifriat Poalim, 1964 Sheut Meuheret) * ''Transformation'' (Massada/Hebrew Writers Association, 1970 Gilgul) * ''Brain'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1975 Moah) * ''Double Exposure'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1982 Milim Nirdafot) * ''Twelve Faces'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1984 Shneim Asar Panim) * ''Last Poems'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1987 Shirim Aharonim) * ''Collected Poems'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Bialik Institute, 1991 Col Ha-Shirim)

Books for children

* ''An Egg in Disguise'' (Am Oved, 1973; 1994 Ha-Beitzah She-Hithapsah)

Non-fiction

* ''The Poems of Levi Ibn Al-Tabban'' (Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1968 [Shirei Levi Ibn Alatabban) * ''Secular Poetry and Poetic Theory: Moses Ibn-Ezra and his Contemporaries'' (Bialik Institute, 1970 [Shirat Ha-Hol Ve-Torat Ha-Shir Le-Moshe Eben Ezra U-Vnei Doro) * ''Change and Tradition in Secular Poetry: Spain and Italy'' (Keter, 1976) * ''The Scarlet Thread – Hebrew Love Poems from Spain, Italy, Turkey and the Yemen'' (edited by Dan Pagis) (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1979 Ke-Hut Ha-Shani) * ''A Secret Sealed'' (Magnes- Hebrew University, 1986 Al Sod Hatum) * ''Poetry Aptly Explained – Studies and Essays on Medieval Hebrew Poetry'' (The Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1993 Ha-Shir Davur Al Ofanav)

Books in translation

* ''Selected Poems,'' (English: Princeton, Quarterly Review of Literature Series, 1992; London, Menard Press, 1972; Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1981; Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996; San Francisco, North Point, 1989) * German: ''An beiden Ufern der Zeit'', Tr. Anne Birkenhauer, Straelen, Straelener Manuskripte, 2003, ; ''Erdichteter Mensch'', Tr. Tuvia Ruebner, Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp, Juedischer Verlag 1993, * Spanish: (Granada, Univ. de Granada, 1994) * ''The Modern Hebrew Poem Itself'' (2003), * ''Variable Directions,'' Tr. Stephen Mitchell (San Francisco: Northpoint, 1989) * '' Poems,'' Tr. Stephen Mitchell (Oxford: Carcanet Press, 1972)

References

External links

Beginning a Sicha …with a poem by Dan Pagis, “Sicha” (''Conversation'')
- Clic
here
to see the poem in Hebrew.

- A Teacher’s Guide for Using the Poem {{DEFAULTSORT:Pagis, Dan 1930 births 1986 deaths Romanian Jews Romanian emigrants to Israel 20th-century Israeli Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Jewish concentration camp survivors Israeli translators Israeli poets 20th-century translators 20th-century poets Judaic scholars Israeli children's writers Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Deaths from cancer in Israel