Ibn Ezra, Moses Ben Jacob

Ibn Ezra, Moses Ben Jacob 

Born 1055, in Granada, Spain; died 1139. Jewish poet.

In the epic poem Chrysolite and the poems The Light, Love Song, and others, Ibn Ezra depicts the image of a woman he loves. The later period of his work is marked by the sadness of loneliness and pessimism, for example in The Awakening, The Time of My Suffering, and the cycle Little Songs. He also wrote religious poems, such as My Soul Passionately Longs for You at Night and The Punishment. Ibn Ezra borrowed from Arabic poets the tajnis, a system of stylistic technique in poetry, and perfected it. He is the author of a history of literature in Arabic called Book of Conversations and Reminiscences.

WORKS

In Russian translation:
[Stikhi.] In the collection Andalusskaia poeziia. [Compiled and annotated by B. Shidfar; introduction by B. Shidfar. Moscow, 1969.]

REFERENCES

Karpeles, G. Istoriia evreiskoi literatury, vol. 1. St. Petersburg, 1890.
Tsinberg, I. Di geshikhte fun der literatur bei yidn, vol. 1. Vilnius, 1929.
Urinovskii, A. Toldat ha’shira ha’ivrit b’ymay gaonim, vol. 2, 5th ed. Tel Aviv, 1956.