David Hakohen (also haKohen or Ha-Kohen) was a late thirteenth-century

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

liturgical poet from

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

, who wrote from a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

perspective in the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

esque tradition. His most published work, "Silence and Praise" (''Hishtaḥavi u-birkhi''), is in the form of a ''

muwashshah ''Muwashshah'' ( ' ' girdled'; plural '; also ' 'girdling,' pl. ') is a strophic poetic form that developed in al-Andalus in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The ', embodying the Iberian rhyme revolution, was the major Andalusi inno ...

'', a prelude to prayer. Ironically, the ode pledges that the prayer will be silent. It has been translated into English.The standard edition, in T. Carmi, ed. (1981), ''The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse'' (New York: Viking Press), 396–97, has been partly revised in Paden and Paden, 231–32, and Ettin, 37. It opens like this: :Bow down, my soul, and kneel before my rock of refuge; :Praise the Lord and bless Him! :My lips are too low to sing his high praises. :My years are too few to recite his glorious works. :All my days would not suffice to tell his mighty deeds.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:David Hakohen Jewish poets 13th-century French Jews 13th-century French poets Writers from Avignon