A Poem by Hannah Senesh: אשרי הגפרור

An excellent way to improve one’s ancient Hebrew is to immerse oneself in examples of modern Hebrew poetry and song in continuity with the language of earlier tradition. Below the fold, I introduce a well-known poem by Hannah Senesh, and link to a not-so-well-known musical rendition.

The first step is to hear a poem sung as clearly as possible. Online, I found this classic recording. Once the sound and rhythms have entered one’s soul, it is appropriate to match them with the written signs, unvocalized, that correspond to them.

אשרי הגפרור שנשרף והצית להבות, 

אשרי הלהבה שבערה בסתרי לבבות.

אשרי הלבבות שידעו לחדול בכבוד...

אשרי הגפרור שנשרף והצית להבות. 

In the recording, at least to my ears, גפרור sounds more like גברור, and נשרף like נזרף.

As a means to check one’s understanding of detail, the poem in vocalized form may be read.

אַשְׁרֵי הַגַּפְרוּר שֶׁנִּשְׂרַף וְהִצִּית לֶהָבוֹת,

אַשְׁרֵי הַלְּהָבָה שֶׁבָּעֲרָה בְּסִתְרֵי לְבָבוֹת.

אַשְׁרֵי הַלְבָבוֹת שֶׁיָדְעוּ לַחֲדוֹל בְּכָבוֹד...

אַשְׁרֵי הַגַּפְרוּר שֶׁנִּשְׂרַף וְהִצִּית לֶהָבוֹת.

All the words are biblical except for גפרור. A difficult form: הצית is a Hiphil perfect from יצת.

The poem in translation:

A blessing on the match that was consumed and kindled flames.
A blessing on the flame that burned in the fastnesses of hearts.
A blessing on the hearts that knew to stop for the sake of honor.
A blessing on the match that was consumed and kindled flames.

The poem in Hannah’s own handwriting here.

The life of Hannah Szenes has come out in film; the film's name is taken from this poem: Blessed is the Match, trailer here. Her story has yet to be told in a first class biography. The following volume concentrates on the place Szenes came to have in Jewish cultural memory: Judith Tydor Baumel-Schwartz. Perfect Heroes: The World War II Parachutists and the Making of Israeli Collective Memory (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010), online here.

Comments

[Alan Len zi]

I like the word play between לְבָבוֹת and לֶהָבוֹת. I think it must have influenced your (mis)translation of the last line.

By "fastnesses" do you mean something like "secret recesses"?

[JohnFH]

Hi Alan,

Oops. Thanks for catching that. I'll fix it.

I struggle with how best to translate "hiding places of the hearts." The word in the Psalms is often used in reference to God as a protective shelter, a sanctuary.