I'm looking for the text of the poem by Yehuda Amichai that includes
the text "people in the dark always envy people in the light," or
something like that. If you have to give it to me personally, and not
post it online for copyright reasons, we will arrange it somehow.
You will probably need to go to a good reference library and find an
anthology of his work. The poem is at least five years old. |
Request for Question Clarification by
ephraim-ga
on
20 Aug 2003 21:28 PDT
Brainwane,
Due to the method used by the Google Answers forum, it is very
difficult to "give it to [you] personally" instead of posting it here
as an answer. Also, as you've said, this may have copyright
implications. I suspect that Google Answers' Terms And Conditions may
specify the rules regarding this in more detail.
Would you be willing to accept a pointer to a text that contains this
work along with a brief quote which contains the text you're
specifically looking for?
/ephraim
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Request for Question Clarification by
angy-ga
on
20 Aug 2003 21:29 PDT
Was the poem written in english or translated from Japanese ?
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Clarification of Question by
brainwane-ga
on
20 Aug 2003 21:42 PDT
First, I believe that Amichai is or was an Israeli poet. I do not
know whether he wrote in Hebrew, Yiddish, or English, but an English
translation is available, since I read it in English in 1998.
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Clarification of Question by
brainwane-ga
on
20 Aug 2003 21:48 PDT
Second: "You further agree not to submit questions or comments
designed to elicit responses that relate to illegal activity or that
infringe upon another party's intellectual property rights." From the
Terms of Service. Yes, I see. Hmmm. Well, I am willing to accept
the full text by means of posting in the Answers forum, but since that
may not be possible, I have lowered my list price to $9.50.
If you can give me a pointer to a book (full title, author, ISBN or
other identifying number) that has this poem in it, then that is an
acceptable answer.
The poem is approximately thirty lines long, with the "people in the
dark" line recurring throughout. It is one poem, out of hundreds
written by Amichai. I REALLY doubt that Amichai or his estate would
mind one paper copy for study purposes. Is it possible to
additionally work out some way to give me a copy personally, after the
answer, in return for a tip, or another "question"?
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Request for Question Clarification by
ephraim-ga
on
20 Aug 2003 23:19 PDT
I've found a book which very likely contains the poem you're looking
for, but since I don't have a copy sitting in front of me, it's
difficult for me to confirm this 100%. According to the available
information from the table of contents, one of the poems in the book
is very likely the one which you are looking for. If this would be
acceptable to you, please advise and I'll post it as my answer.
Note that I do not have the actual book in front of me, so I can't
confirm this that the information I've found is absolutely true. I
might be able to confirm my answer via research at a local library,
but for the price offered, I can't spend a few hours at in-library
research.
/ephraim
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Request for Question Clarification by
vitalmed-ga
on
21 Aug 2003 10:42 PDT
Hello brainwane-ga,
I shall allow ephraim-ga to take the lead, but wish to let you know
that Yehuda Amichai was most definitely an Israeli poet who wrote in
Hebrew. I am also confident to be able to identify the poem for you,
as a backup if needed, and to offer a new translation from Hebrew to
English, providing it does not infringe on any copyrights, or to
comment on the existing one if that interests and you wish to post a
follow-up question.
You might first consider ephraim-ga's recent posting with regard to
locating a copy of this poem.
Regards,
vitalmed-ga
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Request for Question Clarification by
ephraim-ga
on
22 Aug 2003 00:41 PDT
Vitalmed --
I haven't been able to find a copy of the poem on the internet in
either English or Hebrew (though I'll admit that my ability to do
Hebrew language searches for this is limited by my lack of a Hebrew
operating system and uncertainty of the exact translation. "Anashim
B'choshech," perhaps?). The book I've found which most likely has the
poem is an English translation.
If you have direct access to a copy of this poem in Hebrew and it's
considered "fair use" under Google's policy to post your own
translation, go ahead and provide the answer. Otherwise, I'll probably
point Brainwane at the book I've found which probably has an English
version.
/ephraim
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Clarification of Question by
brainwane-ga
on
02 Sep 2003 20:10 PDT
Ephraim-ga: "According to the available information from the table of
contents, one of the poems in the book is very likely the one which
you are looking for. If this would be acceptable to you, please advise
and I'll post it as my answer." Yes, this would be acceptable to me.
However, vitalmed-ga made an offer to translate the poem anew into
English, and that would be even better, so I would prefer that. I am
willing to post a follow-up question in case of any confusion or
dissatisfaction or hunger for further information.
I had no idea he was so prolific!
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Clarification of Question by
brainwane-ga
on
02 Sep 2003 20:12 PDT
By the way, if you have lines in front of you from the poem, you can
post them as requests for clarification and I'll tell you whether they
jog my memory.
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Request for Question Clarification by
ephraim-ga
on
02 Sep 2003 21:26 PDT
Brainwane,
Here's what I know: I can tell you the title of a poem that he wrote
which is similar to the line you quoted above. I do not know the
actual contents of the poem, because I do not currently have access to
this book. Unfortunately, this is all that I've been able to come up
with. I cannot guarantee that this is the correct poem, but if this is
what you'll accept as an answer, please advise. (I'll provide a link
to the book, which you'll need to purchase in order to read the poem.)
Unfortunately, this is the best that I can do with the resources I
have at my disposal.
/ephraim
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Request for Question Clarification by
ephraim-ga
on
02 Sep 2003 21:29 PDT
Brainwane -- my apologies if my clarification above seems very similar
to the one I wrote a week ago, but based on information provided by
Vitalmed, it seems there's a good chance that Amichai may have re-used
his own ideas in different poems, so the partial phrase I found in the
title of a poem may not be exactly what you want. I can't confirm
this, because I don't have the book in front of me.
/ephraim
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