On the morning of September 22nd, YehudaAmichai, a famous Israeli poet, died of cancer in Jerusalem at the age of 76. Amihai began to write poems in the 1940s and has published more than 20 poems so far, including Now and Other Days, as well as novels and short stories, plays and children's literature. His works are not only very popular in Israel, but also translated into 36 languages, which has a wide international influence and is called an outstanding poet in the 20th century. At Amihai's funeral, his daughter Emmanuel recited his poem "Body is the Source of Love" and said with deep affection, "You are an outstanding father and an outstanding person. A real person. You will live among us forever. " This inevitably makes me a China who once saw Amihai in Jerusalem.
It was an afternoon in August three years ago. I came back from a trip to Hebron, where traffic jams were frequent, and rushed to MishkenotShananim, Jerusalem, where I made an appointment to meet yehuda Amiguess. The "Quiet House" is located in the center of Jerusalem, surrounded by green trees and full of flowers. Against the background of blue sky and white clouds, it seems that people walk into the painting area, where most literati will meet, and the artistic atmosphere is very rich. The scene of the trip to Hebron shocked me. I found the "quiet house" half an hour later than the appointed time. The staff told me that Amihai would wait for me there for 20 minutes before leaving. I called to apologize and asked him if he could give me another interview. Amihai didn't answer me directly, but asked, "Can you wait for me there for 20 minutes?" I said, "I can."
"Is it true?" "It's true." "Well, you wait, I'll be right back." Who knows that after only five minutes, he stood in front of me. At that moment, I felt the distance between us narrowed.
The interview can't exclude many stylized things, especially the dialogue at the beginning. But when I started the topic of "inspiration" with the introduction of "looking for touch, my heart is shaking", he suddenly lost his temper and moved the tape recorder to the side: "Inspiration is like what you already have in your heart, only you need external stimulation to have a fantastic idea. You see an image, which can bring other things to your eyes. As I wrote in my poem, thousands of people have seen apples fall to the ground, but only Newton raised this phenomenon to the height of philosophy (and science) and discovered the law of gravity. " Then he went on to say that poetry is a non-professional thing. You need to learn to play and perform, but anyone can become a poet.
When talking about the literary tradition and external influence followed by his own creation, Amihai, as always, emphasized that he borrowed languages from the Bible, Prayer Book, Midrasi and Talmud, so that Hebrew in daily life could walk in the palace of literature. As for his external influence, of course, it mainly comes from Auden and Eliot. I asked him if he liked Lahore, a poetess who was famous for writing sad and sentimental poems in the 1930s. He involuntarily called Lahore the best poet in the history of modern Hebrew literature, and wondered if I had studied Lahore's poems. I said I had studied it, and her poems were really good, which was a pity. Amihai took my words and said, "That's another matter. If there is no suffering in life, there will be no poets. " Yes, perhaps it is the special fate of the Jews that created Amihai, which made him create a large number of touching religious poems, love poems, anti-war poems with humanitarianism and so on.
Amihai was born in Germany, moved to Palestine with his parents since childhood, and then lived in Jerusalem for a long time. He wrote many poems about Jerusalem, but his attitude towards the city was very complicated. He said categorically that this city has been full of terror and violence for two thousand years, but why do people come here? This kind of action is crazy and mysterious. Recently, there was another dispute over the land where he was resting. How would Amihai feel if he knew what was going on underground? Amihai is really true, honest and human. He told me that his second marriage was very successful. Daughter 19 years old, son 22 years old, son born by ex-wife 36 years old, and a lovely little grandson. The intoxicated eyes were deeply infected.
After the interview, he insisted on taking me to the station. Until now, the fading figure is still faintly visible, and the kind and relaxed voice still lingers in my ear ... (Zhong Zhiqing)