אַיֵּךְ | Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik (1904)

Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=23122

Date: 2018-12-28

Last Updated: 2025-03-27

Categories: Ḳabbalat Shabbat, Purim Qatan

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., eros, modern hebrew poetry, Mrozy, Prayers as poems, Queens, אנה אמצאך ana emtsaeka, מי או מה who or what

Excerpt: The poem, Ayekh (Where are you?), by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik. . . .

Content:

Source (Hebrew)	Translation (English)
אַיֵּךְ?	Where are you?
מִמְּקוֹם שֶׁאַתְּ נִסְתֶּרֶת שָׁם, יְחִידַת חַיַּי וּשְׁכִינַת מַאֲוַיַּי – הִגָּלִי־נָא וּמַהֲרִי בֹאִי, בֹּאִי אֱלֵי מַחֲבוֹאִי; וּבְעוֹד יֵשׁ גְּאֻלָּה לִי – צְאִי וּגְאָלִי	Come, beloved, from your hiding place. Come, my only one. Show yourself. Hurry to my refuge, a royal presence. While yet I may be saved, come, rescue me.
וּמָלְכִי עַל־גּוֹרָלִי; וְיוֹם אֶחָד גְּזֵלַת נְעוּרַי לִי הָשִׁיבִי וַהֲמִיתִינִי עִם־אֲבִיבִי. וְתַחַת שִׂפְתוֹתַיִךְ יִכְבֶּה־נָא נִיצוֹצִי וּבֵין שָׁדַיִךְ יוֹמִי אוֹצִיא, כִּגְוַע בַּעֲרֹב הַיּוֹם בֵּין פִּרְחֵי בְשָׂמִים צִפֹּרֶת כְּרָמִים.	Queen of my fate give me back one day my stolen spring, kill me with my youth. Beneath your lips let my flame be quenched; let me consume my life between your breasts as a vineyard butterfly lapses at evening into fragrant flowers.
אַיֵּךְ?	Where are you?
וַאֲנִי עוֹד לֹא יָדַעְתִּי מִי וָמָה אַתְּ – וּשְׁמֵךְ עַל־שְׂפָתַי רָעַד, וּכְרִצְפַּת אֵשׁ בַּלֵּילוֹת עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי בָּעַרְתְּ בִּלְבָבִי; וָאֵבְךְּ בִּנְדוּדֵי לֵיל, וָאֶשֹּׁךְ כָּרִי וּלְזִכְרֵךְ כָּלָה בְשָׂרִי; וְכׇל־הַיּוֹם בֵּין אוֹתִיּוֹת הַגְּמָרָא, בְּקֶרֶן אוֹר, בִּדְמוּת עָב בָּרָה, בַּזַּכָּה מִתְּפִלּוֹתַי וּבִטְהָר־הִרְהוּרַי, בִּנְעִים הֶגְיוֹנַי וּבִגְדָל־יִסּוּרַי – לֹא־בִקְשָׁה נַפְשִׁי כִּי אִם־הִגָּלוֹתֵךְ, רַק־אוֹתָךְ, אוֹתָךְ, אוֹתָךְ…	When I did not know as yet who you were and what you were your name trembled on my lips. Like Isaiah’s coal you burnt my heart. Sleepless at night upon my couch I wept and bit my pillow, my flesh devoured by the memory of you. All day long among the holy letters, in a ray of light, a white cloud, in my purest prayers, my clearest reflections, my most pleasant thoughts, and in my greatest sufferings, I sought nothing but a vision of your self, you, you. You.

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Composed by Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik in the month of Sivan 5664 (May 1904), in Mrozy, Poland. Translated by Ruth Nevo for Chaim Nachman Bialik: Selected Poems (Dvir and the Jerusalem Post 1981). Hebrew transcribed by the Ben-Yehuda Project.

Source

241

Ayekh, translated by Ruth Nevo

Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Co-authors:

• 
  Name: the Ben Yehuda Project (transcription)
  Bio: Founded in 1999, the Ben Yehuda Project digitally transcribes Hebrew works in the Public Domain.
  Website: https://benyehuda.org
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/project-ben-yehuda
• 
  Name: Ruth Nevo (translation)
  Bio: Ruth Nevo (1924- in Johannesburg, S.A.) Israeli professor of humanities, has been a member of the Israel Academy since 1985.
  Website: https://www.academy.ac.il/Index2/Entry.aspx?nodeId=809&entryId=18337
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/ruth-nevo
• 
  Name: Ḥayyim Naḥman Bialik
  Bio: Hayim Nahman Bialik (Hebrew: חיים נחמן ביאליק‎‎; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. (via wikipedia)
  Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayim_Nahman_Bialik
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/hayyim-nahman-bialik
• 
  Name: Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
  Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
  Website: https://aharon.varady.net
  Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady-transcription

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