Modern Hebrew poetry
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Modern Hebrew poetry is poetry written in the
Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. It was pioneered by Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ( he, משה חיים לוצאטו, also ''Moses Chaim'', ''Moses Hayyim'', also ''Luzzato'') (1707 – 16 May 1746 (26 ''Iyar'' 5506)), also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL (or RaMHaL, ), was a prominent Italia ...
, and it was developed by the
Haskalah The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
movements, that saw poetry as the most quality genre for Hebrew writing. The first Haskalah poet, who heavily influenced the later poets, was
Naphtali Hirz Wessely Naphtali Hirz (Hartwig) Wessely ( yi, נפתלי הירץ וויזעל, translit=Naftali Hirtz Vizel; 9 December 1725 – 28 February 1805) was an 18th-century German-Jewish Hebraist and educationist. Family history One of Wessely's ancestors, ...
, at the end of the 18th Century, and after him came Shalom HaCohen,
Max Letteris Meïr Halevi (Max) Letteris (; 13 September 1800 – 19 May 1871) was an Austrian poet, editor, and translator of the Galician Haskala. He translated into Hebrew works by Virgil, Lucian, Jean Racine, Lord Byron, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Fri ...
, Abraham Dob Bär Lebensohn, his son Micah Joseph,
Judah Leib Gordon Judah Leib (Ben Asher) Gordon, also known as Leon Gordon, (December 7, 1830, Vilnius, Lithuania – September 16, 1892, St. Petersburg, Russia) (Hebrew: יהודה לייב גורדון) was among the most important Hebrew poets of the Jewish En ...
and others. Haskalah poetry was greatly influenced by the contemporary European poetry, as well as the poetry of the previous ages, especially Biblical poetry and
pastoralism Pastoralism is a form of animal husbandry where domesticated animals (known as "livestock") are released onto large vegetated outdoor lands (pastures) for grazing, historically by nomadic people who moved around with their herds. The animal ...
. It was mostly a didactic form of poetry, and dealt with the world, the public, and contemporary trends, but not the individual. A secular Galician Jew,
Naftali Herz Imber Naftali Herz Imber ( he, , yi, ; December 27, 1856 – October 8, 1909) was a Jewish Hebrew-language poet, most notable for writing "Hatikvah", the poem that became the basis for the Israeli national anthem. Biography Naftali Herz Imber ...
, wrote the lyrics to
HaTikva Hatikvah ( he, הַתִּקְוָה, haTīqvā, ; ) is the national anthem of the State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jewish people to return ...
in 1878; this later became the national anthem of
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 the age after the Haskalah, many prominent poets were associated with
Hovevei Zion Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. ''hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian ...
. They included Shaul Tchernihovsky and
Haim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ( he, חיים נחמן ביאַליק; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew language, Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. He was ...
, who would later be considered Israel's
national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbo ...
. They let go of the genre principles that were widely accepted at their time, and began writing personal poems, about the human being and the soul. In the
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
national revival National revival or national awakening is a period of ethnic self-consciousness that often precedes a political movement for national liberation but that can take place at a time when independence is politically unrealistic. In the history of Eur ...
period, many arose as the literary heirs to Bialik, and the focal point of Hebrew poetry moved from Europe to the land of Israel. Women became prominent poets (
Yokheved Bat Miryam Yocheved Bat-Miriam ( he, יוכבד בת-מרים; russian: Иохевед Бат-Мирьям; pen name of ''Yocheved Zhlezniak'') (5 March 1901 – 7 January 1980) was an Israeli poet. Bat-Miriam was Born in Belorussia to a Hasidic family. She s ...
,
Esther Raab Esther Raab ( he, אסתר ראב; April 25, 1894 – September 4, 1981) was a Hebrew author of prose and poetry, known as "the first Sabra poet", due to her eminence as the first Israeli woman poet and for the prominence of her native landsc ...
,
Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...
and others). An
expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
genre also developed, as exemplified by
Uri Zvi Greenberg Uri Zvi Greenberg ( he, אוּרִי צְבִי גְּרִינְבֵּרְג; September 22, 1896 – May 8, 1981; also spelled Uri Zvi Grinberg) was an acclaimed Modern Hebrew poetry, Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish ...
and David Fogel. In the 1930s and 1940s, a neo-symbolic style emerged as well, in
Avraham Shlonsky Avraham Shlonsky (March 6, 1900 – May 18, 1973; he, אברהם שלונסקי; russian: Авраам Шлёнский) was a significant and dynamic Israeli poet and editor born in the Russian Empire. He was influential in the development of ...
, then
Nathan Alterman Nathan Alterman ( he, נתן אלתרמן, August 14, 1910 – March 28, 1970) was an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Though never holding any elected office, Alterman was highly influential in Socialist Zionist politics ...
, and then the
Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...
age. In the 1950s and 1960s, poets who had been raised or born in Israel (
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...
) were active. The poets Natan Zakh,
David Avidan David Avidan (Hebrew: דוד אבידן) (February 21, 1934 – May 11, 1995) was an Israeli "poet, painter, filmmaker, publicist, and playwright" (as he often put it). He wrote 20 published books of Hebrew poetry. Biography and literary career ...
, Yehuda Amihai,
Dan Pagis Dan Pagis (October 16, 1930 – June 29, 1986) was an Israeli poet, lecturer and Holocaust survivor. Biography Dan Pagis was born in Rădăuţi, Bukovina in Romania and imprisoned as a child in a concentration camp in Ukraine. He escaped in 19 ...
and
Dahlia Ravikovitch Dahlia Ravikovitch ( he, דליה רביקוביץ'; November 17, 1936 – August 21, 2005) was an Israeli poet, translator, and peace activist. Biography Ravikovitch was born in Ramat Gan on November 27, 1936. She learned to read and write at t ...
rebelled against the style of Shlonsky and Alterman. At the same time a line of religious poets led by such figures as Yosef Zvi Rimon and Zelda emerged. These movements continue to be active to the present day.


See also

*
Ars poetica (Israel) Ars poetica ( he, ערס פואטיקה) is a contemporary Israeli poetry group. The name is at once a riff on Horace's Art of Poetry, and on the term, '' ars'', which means pimp in Arabic, and in Israel Hebrew slang "low-life," a derogatory ter ...


References


Further reading

* Avidov Lipsker, ''Red Poem\ Blue Poem: Seven Essays on Uri Zvi Grinberg and Two Essays on Else Lasker-Schüler'', Bar Ilan University Press, Ramat-Gan 2010.


External links


Poems by Avot Yeshurun (1904–1992)
one of the major figures in Twentieth century Hebrew poetry, translated by Lilach Lachman and Gabriel Levin. Featured in ''Parnassus: Poetry in Review''--
Parnassus (magazine) ''Parnassus: Poetry in Review'' was an American literary magazine founded in 1973. It ceased publication in 2019. History and profile ''Parnassus'' was founded by Herbert Leibowitz as editor and Stanley Lewis, the original publisher, in New Yo ...
Hebrew poetry Hebrew-language literature {{poetry-stub