A man doesn't have time in his life
to have time for everything.
He doesn't have seasons enough to have
a season for every purpose. Ecclesiastes
Was wrong about that.
A man needs to love and to hate at the same moment,
to laugh and cry with the same eyes,
with the same hands to throw stones and to gather them,
to make love in war and war in love.
And to hate and forgive and remember and forget,
to arrange and confuse, to eat and to digest
what history
takes years and years to do.
A man doesn't have time.
When he loses he seeks, when he finds
he forgets, when he forgets he loves, when he loves
he begins to forget.
And his soul is seasoned, his soul
is very professional.
Only his body remains forever
an amateur. It tries and it misses,
gets muddled, doesn't learn a thing,
drunk and blind in its pleasures
and its pains.
He will die as figs die in autumn,
Shriveled and full of himself and sweet,
the leaves growing dry on the ground,
the bare branches pointing to the place
where there's time for everything.
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A poem that ventures to the dark side of a given wisdom. How many of us have read Ecclesiastes, have heard it recited at numerous sermons, weddings, etc...and now, exposed as a shadow, meanings laid bare. Um...so true that this poem must be read many times to truly understand it. It challenges what has been ingrained as accepted wisdom. Interesting how the soul and the body become two, with the body lacking the wisdom and making the mistakes.
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Geez, there is just so much substance and wisdom in this piece...and it is enough to make one's head spin! Just trying to make heads or tails of exactly what he is trying to say is part of what makes it so interesting. This is definitely not a post you could read just once and grasp its entire meaning. It reminds me of a movie that you have to see a second time because you missed some of the subtle nuances or "clues" the first time around...and with each viewing, the entire picture becomes much more clear.
UB
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I remember analyzing (or trying to) this one in 12th grade English class. We all had to read it like a bazillion times and talk about it endlessly but it was really interesting to discuss the depth of the meaning in this poem.
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I don't know who promoted this poem, but thanks. I've been reading through other pieces and thoroughly enjoyed them, so much so I'm going to read more of his work in the original Hebrew...so, thanks for bringing him to my attention!
Kyla -
Life as one sees it - tangled, diverse, happy, sad but Mr.Amichai is quite right. We don't have time for eerything, but how sad we seem to have time for regrets as our lives near their completion.
The profound meaning to this poem is overwhelming.
~von~
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