Micah Joseph Lebensohn (; (2 February 1828 – 17 February 1852), also known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Mikhal (), was one of the foremost poets and translators of the

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. He is best known for his innovative narrative

Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

romances and

pantheistic Pantheism can refer to a number of Philosophy, philosophical and Religion, religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arise ...

nature poetry, influenced by the

Romantic movement Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. These are characterised by "a deep pathos and a beauty of expression," and noted for their "expression of the young poet's strong longing for life and of the dread of an early dissolution which preyed on his mind."

Biography

Micha Joseph Lebensohn was born on 2 February 1828 in

, the son of ''

maskilic The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Europe and th ...

'' poet

Avraham Dov Ber Lebensohn Abraham Dov Ber Lebensohn (; – November 19, 1878), also known by the pen names Abraham Dov-Ber Michailishker () and Adam ha-Kohen (), was a Lithuanian Jewish Hebraist, poet and educator. Biography Avraham Dov Ber Lebenson was born in Katloŭk ...

(Adam ha-Kohen), where he received a thorough

Jewish education Jewish education (, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish culture. Judaism places a heavy emphasis on Torah ...

. Having met in his father's house many prominent Jewish writers, he developed an early interest in literature. He began to translate poetry into Hebrew at the age of twelve, and at the age of sixteen composed his first original poem, ''Ha-Aḥvah'' ('Fraternity'), written to his brother Noah. As a teenager, Lebensohn, besides his perfect command of

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 ...

, was privately tutored in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. By the late 1840s, Lebensohn discovered early symptoms of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. In 1849, on the advice of his doctor, he went to sanatoria abroad for medical treatment. During a winter in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, he attended the philosophy lectures of Schelling at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, and came under the influence of

German Romanticism German Romanticism () was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German vari ...

. At the same time, he became closely acquainted with scholars Shneur Sachs and

Leopold Zunz Leopold Zunz (—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', —''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies ('' Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual. Nah ...

, who encouraged him to write original poetry on Jewish and Biblical heroes. He also visited the

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...

s of Salzbrunn and Reinerz to seek relief from the disease. He returned to Vilna in 1850, where he lived until his death shortly after his twenty-fourth birthday, on 17 February 1852. His last poem, ''Ha-tefilah'' ('Prayer'), is dedicated to 'Prayer, Daughter of Hearts'.

Literary career

In 1847, Lebensohn wrote a translation into Hebrew of the third and fourth books of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's ''

Æneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. Written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and ...

'' (after

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's German translation), under the title ''Harisut Troya'' ('The Destruction of Troy'). The following year he wrote translations of Alfieri's ''

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

'' (as ''Aḥarit Sha’ul'') and

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's ''

Erlkönig "Erlkönig" is a German poetry, poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlking, a king of the fairy, fairies. It was originally written by Goethe as part of a 1782 ''Singspiel' ...

'' (as ''Melekh balahot''), among other works. Other compositions of this period include translations of Arnault's ''La feuille'' (as ''Daliyyah niddaḥat'') and

Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. He also largely influenced Ukra ...

's ' (as ''Ha-Aravi ba-midbar''), as well as

elegies An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

on the death of M. A. Günzburg. While in Berlin, Lebensohn wrote a cycle of

lyric poems Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

, including ''Ahuva azuva'' ('Sorrowful Lover'), ''Yom huledet ahuvati'' ('My Beloved's Birthday'), ''Aḥot lanu'' ('A Sister to Us'), and ''Ḥag ha-aviv'' ('The Festival of Spring'). Lebensohn wrote his best known work, the poetry collection ''Shirei Bat-Tsiyyon'' ('Songs of a Daughter of Zion', published 1851, second edition 1869), in 1850. It consists of six

epic poems Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

on Jewish subjects with naturalistic description: ''Shelomo'' ('

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

'), ''Kohelet'' ('

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes ( ) is one of the Ketuvim ('Writings') of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly used in English is a Latin transliteration of the Greek translation of the Hebrew word ...

'), ''Nikmat Shimshon'' ('

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

's Vengeance'), ''Yael ve-Sisra'' ('

Jael Jael () or Yael (' ''Yāʿēl'') is a heroine of the Bible who aids the Israelites in their war with King Jabin of the city of Tel Hazor, Hazor in Canaan by killing Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army. This episode is depicted in Judges 4, cha ...

and

Sisera Sisera ( ''Sīsərāʾ'') was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor, who is mentioned in of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by the forces of the Israelite tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali under the command of Barak and ...

'), ''Moshe al Har ha-Avarim'' ('

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

on Mount Abarim'), and ''Yehuda ha-Levi'' ('

Judah Halevi Judah haLevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; ; ; c. 1075 – 1141) was a Sephardic Jewish poet, physician and philosopher. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets and is celebrated for his secular and religious poems, many of whic ...

'). The best known among them, ''Shelomo'' and ''Kohelet'', contrast the optimism of a young King Solomon with the disillusionment of the monarch in his old age. In the ''

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

'' (1904),

Herman Rosenthal Herman Rosenthal (October 6, 1843 – 1917) was an American author, editor, and librarian. Biography Rosenthal was born in Friedrichstadt (Jaunjelgava), Courland. He was educated at Bauske (Bauska) and Jakobstadt (Jēkabpils), graduating in 1 ...

and

Peter Wiernik Peter Wiernik (March 6, 1865 – February 12, 1936) was a Russian-born Jewish American Yiddish journalist, newspaper editor, writer and historian. Life Wiernik was born on March 6, 1865, in Vilna, Russia, the son of Hirsch Wolf Wiernik and Sara ...

wrote that

Legacy

After his death, a second volume of Lebensohn's poetry entitled ''Kinor Bat-Tsiyyon'' ('Violin of a Daughter of Zion', published in 1870) was assembled by his father. It contains, alongside a number of pieces translated from German, lyric poems, love poetry, and

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about something ...

ations for the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

. Lebensohn's brother-in-law,

Joshua Steinberg Joshua Steinberg (; born in Wilna 1839; died 1908)Judah Leib Gordon, J. L. Gordon, his contemporary and friend, and other lyric poets of the next generation. A noted elegy entitled ''Mikhal Dim'ah'' (in the second part of ''Shirei Sefat Kodesh'') on his death was written by his father. J. L. Gordon's wrote an allegorical drama, ''Ho Aḥ'' ('O, Brother'), which is placed in the first part of ''Kol Shiray Yehudah'', and

Samuel David Luzzatto Samuel David Luzzatto (, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian-Austrian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. Early life Luzzatto was born ...

penned a ''

kinah Kinah, ḳinah or qinah (plural kinoth, qinot, qinoth) is Hebrew for a dirge or lamentation. Its general meaning is a dirge or lament, especially as sung by Jewish professional mourning women. Specifically, it can refer to one of the many Hebrew ...

'' in Lebenson's honor. Gordon also published the ''kinah'' ''Ofel Bat-Tsiyyon'' in Lebensohn's memory in 1877.

Published works

* * * *

References

External links

Poems by Lebensohn
at the {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebensohn, Micah Joseph 1828 births 1852 deaths 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century Lithuanian poets Epic poets French–Hebrew translators Hebrew-language poets Hebrew-language writers Jewish poets Jewish translators Lyric poets People of the Haskalah Romantic poets Translators from German Translators from Italian Translators from Polish Translators of Virgil Translators to Hebrew Tuberculosis deaths in Lithuania Jewish writers from Vilnius