Why read The Dream of the Poem?

Book cover of The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492

Book description

Hebrew culture experienced a renewal in medieval Spain that produced what is arguably the most powerful body of Jewish poetry written since the Bible. Fusing elements of East and West, Arabic and Hebrew, and the particular and the universal, this verse embodies an extraordinary sensuality and intense faith that transcend…

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Poetry

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Dream of the Poem as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Hussein Fancy

Author

Among the wonders of medieval Spain is the appearance of the first Hebrew secular poetry since Biblical times. In this masterful and unparalleled set of translations by Peter Cole, we witness the profound, pious, chauvinistic, and indeed, sensual traditions of secular poetry over centuries. A fusion of Arabic and Hebrew traditions, in and of themselves, these poems stand as a metaphor for the Jewish community itself as well as its dynamism and endurance under Muslim and then, Christian rule.

From Hussein's list on The best books that capture the paradoxes of medieval Spain.