יפי קול- רבי יהודה הלוי

Ohh yes, em- something I wanted to mention: Sometimes we think of the חכמי ישראל as living in vacuum, and not having the same life experiences as we- or for that matter, as contemporary rock singers. But that is obviously not so my beloved porcupines! We can see from the myriad of beautiful and refreshing Hebrew 'פיוטים' written by the giants of spirit who resided in Spain a millennium ago that our ancestors were quite 'alive'! One פיוט in particular I was checking out last week caught my eye, in that it was something I sensed (perhaps not in this measure, though) in my own life traversings:

(This was the beginning of the ancient Arabic 'Q'ssida' which usually was a poem talking about nature or romance or something, before getting into the 'meat and potatoes' of the פיוט.)

יְפֵי קוֹל קַדְּמוּ כִנּוֹר לְיָפוֹת---וְשָׂרִים אַחֲרֵי נֹגְנִים חֲלִיפוֹת

עֲלָמוֹת לַעֲלָמוֹת נַעֲלָמוֹת---וְנִשְׁקָפוֹת בְּעַד אֶשְׁנָב וְצוֹפוֹת

בְּתוּלוֹת לָמְדוּ מִבַּת בְּתוּאֵל---קְדֻשַּׁת טָהֳרַת לִבּוֹת וְגוּפוֹת

אֲבָל כִּי מָשְׁכוּ קֶשֶׁת לְתֻמָּם---וְהָרְגוּ אִישׁ, וְהֵם זַכּוֹת וְחָפוֹת

אֲשֶׁר לֹא שָׁאֲלוּ לִקְרָב חֲרָבוֹת---וְדַיָּם בַּזְּרוֹעוֹת הַחֲשׂוּפוֹת

וְאֵיךְ נָשְׂאוּ צְמִידִים אוֹ צְעָדוֹת---עֲצֵלוֹת מִנְּשׂוֹא עַפְעַף יְעֵפוֹת

וְלוּ נָשְׁאוּ אֱלֵי חַמָּה פְנֵיהֶם---אֲזַי עָזְבוּ פְּנֵי חַמָּה שְׁזוּפוֹת

וְתֹאמַרְנָה יְהִי חֹשֶׁךְ יְהִי אוֹר---בְּאוֹר פָּנִים וּבִשְׁחוֹר מַחֲלָפוֹת

וְכָתְנוֹת כְּאוֹר חֶבְרָה לְבוּשׁוֹת---בְּלֵיל שֵׂעָר כְּלֵיל פֵּרוּד צְנוּפוֹת

מְאוֹרוֹת נָתְנוּ לִבִּי רְקִיעִים---תְּסוֹבַבְנָה עֲלֵי כַּמָּה תְקוּפוֹת

וְיֵשׁ לִשְׁגּוֹת בְּרַכּוֹת וַעֲנֻגּוֹת---וּפוֹרִיּוֹת עֲבֻתּוֹת וַעֲנֵפוֹת

וּפִיפִיּוֹת יְפֵה פִיּוֹת אֲדֻמּוֹת---עֲלֵי טוּרֵי בְדֹלָחִים רְצוּפוֹת

לְאַט בִּמְשַׂקְּרוֹת וּמְשַׁקְּרוֹת לִי---לְאַט בָּהֵן וְלוּ הָיוּ חֲנֵפוֹת

מְסֻבָּלוֹת בְּתַפּוּחַ וְרִמּוֹן---וְשׁוֹשַׁנִּים וְעָלֵיהֶן תְּרוּפוֹת

וּמַה אֹמַר בְּהוֹד קוֹמָה כְּתָמָר---וְהָרוּחַ יְנִיפֶהָ תְנוּפוֹת

רְאֵה כִּי נִטְרְפוּ לִבּוֹת לְקָחוּם---שְׁאַל הַיְשַׁלְּמוּ אֶת הַטְּרֵפוֹת

וְאִם לָקְחוּ נְקַם צִיצִת לְחֵיהֶם---אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ בְעֵינֵינוּ קְטוּפוֹת

The whole פיוט is obviously talking about how heavy the stares and the general presence of girls around him was at times during his youth. Some lines in particular I think are pretty good-

"קְדֻשַּׁת טָהֳרַת לִבּוֹת וְגוּפוֹת-אֲבָל כִּי מָשְׁכוּ קֶשֶׁת לְתֻמָּם-וְהָרְגוּ אִישׁ, וְהֵם זַכּוֹת וְחָפוֹת"

"וְלוּ נָשְׁאוּ אֱלֵי חַמָּה פְנֵיהֶם-אֲזַי עָזְבוּ פְּנֵי חַמָּה שְׁזוּפוֹת"

I think every guy (especially not-so-cool guys like myself) at some point in life, experiences the feeling of the biting, heart-sinking gaze of a pretty girl (who you might be interested in- but perhaps you feel is a bit too 'prestigious' for you). At times I almost sensed myself being pitied in their gander. Well...that's what I've experienced anyway...(?)

By the way, I got this פיוט from a site I didn't previously know about, that seems to have a lot of the non-religiously oriented Spanish פיוטים: http://benyehuda.org/

[This פיוט is also sort of similar to a popular James Blunt song from a few years ago (not to suggest that it had any meaning!):

"My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
F[ly]ing high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.