David ben Elazar ibn Paquda

David ben Elazar Paquda (also, Pakuda, Baqoda; first half of the 12th century), was a Spanish payyetan (possibly the cousin of Baḥya b. Joseph ibn Paquda). Al-Ḥarizi praises David's verses twice in the third maqāma of his Taḥkemoni: "none as bright and hot as the songs ben Bakoda begot"; "and Rabbi David ben Bakoda – skill is his prelude, praise his coda." Numerous liturgical poems by him have been preserved. According to Zunz, David's authorship is firmly established in the case of 14 poems by the appearance of his full name in acrostics or in superscriptions; more than 20 other poems in various Spanish nusḥaot, which are signed simply "David" are for the most part also to be regarded as his compositions. One of David's peculiarities, which he shares with Yemenite Hebrew poets, is the scriptio plena spelling of his name (דויד). David has been rightly characterized as a conservative liturgical poet. This is shown in his technique: he uses the syllabic meter more than the quantitative one (used only in two bakkashot), and sometimes he does not use any meter; he prefers monorhymed compositions to the strophic ones. He does not employ the novelties of Andalusian-Hebrew liturgical poetry; he prefers old paytanic structures and very simple forms. (via his entry in encyclopedia.com)