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Will Her Love Remember?

from Fragments by Yoni Avi Battat

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about

Music by Yoni Avi Battat / Poem by the wife of Dunash Ibn Labrat (ca. 990)
Featuring Laura Elkeslassy (lead vocals)

This text was discovered in the Cairo Geniza and is one of the only remaining examples of poetry from this era thought to be written by a woman. The carefully metered lines express how physical objects can be imbued with memory and allow us to hold our loved ones close, even when they are so far away.

lyrics

הֲיִזְכּוֹר יַעֲלַת הַחֵן יְדִידָהּ
בְּיוֹם פֵּירוּד וּבִזְרוֹעָהּ יְחִידָהּ
וְשָׂם חוֹתַם יְמִינוֹ עַל שְׂמֹאלָהּ
וּבִזְרוֹעוֹ הֲלֹא שָׂמָה צְמִידָהּ

בְּיוֹם לָקְחָה לְזִכָּרוֹן רְדִידוֹ
וְהוּא לָקַח לְזִכָּרוֹן רְדִידָהּ –
הֲיִשָּׁאֵר בְּכָל אֶרֶץ סְפָרַד
וְלוּ לָקַח חֲצִי מַלְכוּת נְגִידָהּ?

Will her love remember his graceful doe,
her only son in her arms as he parted?
On her left hand he placed a ring from his right,
on his wrist she placed her bracelet.

As a keepsake she took his mantle from him,
and he in turn took hers from her.
Would he settle, now, in the land of Spain,
if its prince gave him half his kingdom?

Translation by Peter Cole
The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492, ed. and trans. by Peter Cole (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), p. 27.

credits

from Fragments, released September 2, 2022
Yoni Avi Battat: lead vocal, violin, viola, oud
Laura Elkeslassy: lead vocal
Jamal Sinno: qanun
Naseem Alatrash: cello
Fabio Pirozzolo: riq
Jesse Chevan: frame drum
James Heazlewood Dale: bass

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tags

about

Yoni Avi Battat Boston, Massachusetts

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer specializing in contemporary and traditional Jewish music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He maintains an active performance schedule across the country, playing violin, viola, and oud in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects spanning a wide range of styles. ... more

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