Dan Pagis (; October 16, 1930 – June 29, 1986) was an Israeli

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, lecturer and

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivor.

Biography

Dan Pagis was born in Rădăuţi,

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

in Romania and imprisoned as a child in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He escaped in 1944 and immigrated to British Palestine (soon-to-be

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

) in 1946. Pagis earned his PhD from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

where he later taught Medieval Hebrew literature. His first published book of poetry was ''Sheon ha-Tsel'' ("The Shadow Clock") in 1959. In 1970 he published a major work entitled ''Gilgul'' – which may be translated as "Revolution, cycle, transformation, metamorphosis, metempsychosis," etc. Other poems include: "Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway-Car," "Testimony, "Europe, Late," "Autobiography," and "Draft of a Reparations Agreement." Pagis knew many languages, and translated multiple works of literature. Pagis died of cancer in Israel on June 29, 1986. His most widely cited poem is "Written in Pencil in the Sealed Railway Car". The literary scholar Nili Gold has described Dan Pagis as an example of a writer whose work reveals the influence of "Mother Tongue" oral and written culture on their Hebrew writing. She has situated Pagis in this way among a group of Hebrew-language writers that includes Yoel Hoffman,

Yehuda Amichai Yehuda Amichai (; born Ludwig Pfeuffer 3 May 1924 – 22 September 2000) was an Israelis, Israeli poet and author, one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew language, Hebrew in modern times. Yehuda Amichai, the poet of everyday life, love, ...

, Natan Zach, and Aharon Appelfeld.

Published works

Poetry

* ''The Shadow Dial'' (Sifriat Poalim, 1959 Shaon Ha-Tzel) * ''Late Leisure'' (Sifriat Poalim, 1964 Sheut Meuheret) * ''Transformation'' (Massada/Hebrew Writers Association, 1970 Gilgul) * ''Brain'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1975 Moah) * ''Double Exposure'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1982 Milim Nirdafot) * ''Twelve Faces'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1984 Shneim Asar Panim) * ''Last Poems'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1987 Shirim Aharonim) * ''Collected Poems'' (Hakibbutz Hameuchad/Bialik Institute, 1991 Col Ha-Shirim)

Books for children

* ''An Egg in Disguise'' (Am Oved, 1973; 1994 Ha-Beitzah She-Hithapsah)

Non-fiction

* ''The Poems of Levi Ibn Al-Tabban'' (Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1968 [Shirei Levi Ibn Alatabban) * ''Secular Poetry and Poetic Theory: Moses Ibn-Ezra and his Contemporaries'' (Bialik Institute, 1970 [Shirat Ha-Hol Ve-Torat Ha-Shir Le-Moshe Eben Ezra U-Vnei Doro) * ''Change and Tradition in Secular Poetry: Spain and Italy'' (Keter, 1976) * ''The Scarlet Thread – Hebrew Love Poems from Spain, Italy, Turkey and the Yemen'' (edited by Dan Pagis) (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1979 Ke-Hut Ha-Shani) * ''A Secret Sealed'' (Magnes- Hebrew University, 1986 Al Sod Hatum) * ''Poetry Aptly Explained – Studies and Essays on Medieval Hebrew Poetry'' (The Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1993 Ha-Shir Davur Al Ofanav)

Books in translation

* ''Selected Poems,'' (English: Princeton, Quarterly Review of Literature Series, 1992; London, Menard Press, 1972; Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society, 1981; Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996; San Francisco, North Point, 1989) * German: ''An beiden Ufern der Zeit'', Tr. Anne Birkenhauer, Straelen, Straelener Manuskripte, 2003, ; ''Erdichteter Mensch'', Tr. Tuvia Ruebner, Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp, Juedischer Verlag 1993, * Spanish: (Granada, Univ. de Granada, 1994) * ''The Modern Hebrew Poem Itself'' (2003), * ''Variable Directions,'' Tr. Stephen Mitchell (San Francisco: Northpoint, 1989) * '' Poems,'' Tr. Stephen Mitchell (Oxford: Carcanet Press, 1972)

References

External links

Beginning a Sicha …with a poem by Dan Pagis, “Sicha” (''Conversation'')
- Clic
here
to see the poem in Hebrew.

- A Teacher’s Guide for Using the Poem {{DEFAULTSORT:Pagis, Dan 1930 births 1986 deaths Romanian Jews Romanian emigrants to Israel 20th-century Israeli Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Jewish concentration camp survivors Israeli translators Israeli poets 20th-century Israeli translators 20th-century Israeli poets Judaic scholars Israeli children's writers Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Deaths from cancer in Israel Burials at Har HaMenuchot