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My Heart Is in the East

Judah Halevi 1075 (Toledo) – 1141 (Jerusalem)

My heart is in the east,
and I am in the distant west.

How can I taste what I eat,
and how can it be sweet?

How can I fulfill by vows and oaths,
as long as Zion is in the chains of Edom,
and I am in the binds of the Arabs?

About this poem

The point of this verse is the poet’s emphatic sense that he cannot function fully as long as the Temple is destroyed.

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Submitted by acronimous on January 04, 2022

Modified on May 03, 2023

18 sec read
261

Quick analysis:

Scheme XX AA XXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 224
Words 61
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 2, 2, 3
Full analysis for My Heart Is in the East »

Judah Halevi

Rabbi Judah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in the Holy Land in 1141, at that point the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. more…

All Judah Halevi poems | Judah Halevi Books

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