hṭṿv shvshyrym hṿʾ hkhṿzv shvhm: lvʿyyt hhgzmh hḳytsṿnyt ṿvʿyyt hʾmt ṿhshḳr vshyr / The Best Poem Is That Which Contains the Greatest Falsehood
Moshe Ibn Ezra distinguishes between the language of ḥaqīqa (reality, fact) and the language of maǧāz (imagery and metaphor). The first describes the facts as they are and can be grasped and confirmed by reason, by the senses, by experience, and by common consent. The second cannot; its form belies...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | Hebrew |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1981
|
| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ibn-ʿEzra, Mosheh ben Yaʿaḳov 1060-1139
/ Poetry
|
| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
|
| Summary: | Moshe Ibn Ezra distinguishes between the language of ḥaqīqa (reality, fact) and the language of maǧāz (imagery and metaphor). The first describes the facts as they are and can be grasped and confirmed by reason, by the senses, by experience, and by common consent. The second cannot; its form belies its content, and it is not meant to be understood literally. The language of poetry is essentially figurative, and good poetry abounds in metaphor. But while the use of poetic fiction to enhance the truth is commendable, its use to distort the truth is unethical and reprehensible. Prevailing social conditions greatly encouraged the use of poetic fiction. The poet's dependence on the good will of the ruler compelled him to write eulogistic poems about the ruler and derisive poems about the ruler's enemies. And the element of fiction is particularly marked in this kind of poem. Poetic fiction, when used to enhance the truth and not to distort it, is not only permissible, but also desirable. This is the meaning behind the age-old paradox: "The best poem is that which contains the greatest falsehood." Medieval poetry does not portray reality in realistic terms, for this was not considered to be poetry. And this explains the conscious use of fiction, which is one of the basic elements of medieval poetry. The use of the nasīb in the opening verses of the qaṣīda is an example of the use of poetic fiction. These verses, which were intended as ornamental or didactic, have a fictitious content: they describe the wanderings of the poet in the desert, even though the setting of the poem is an urban one. The ruler was not deceived by the fiction, and understood it symbolically, as was intended. The discussion of poetic fiction in the "Kitāb" includes also a philosophical discussion, which attempts to find a place for poetry in the intellectual life and to reconcile this with certain fundamental philosophical positions, in particular, the position of the rationalists of the Aristotelian school. Moshe Ibn Ezra's attitude to fiction in art is ambivalent: on the one hand, he supports the use of it, and even claims that without it there is no poetry; on the other hand, he justifies its use only in the service of truth and condemns the use of it to misrepresent or even to distort the truth. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
|