210 r Libby Garshowitz
Maimonides’ Views on Love Poetry
Maimonides’ objections to love poetry, both Arabic and Hebrew, stemmed
from his belief that the Arabic language itself would be regarded as “out of
place, vulgar, perhaps even blasphemous, and certainly inappropriate to
a semi-religious or quasi-religious occasion.” Concerning poetry’s recita-
tion in Hebrew, Maimonides’ objection derived “from the language of the
subject.... If, however, the purpose of that poem were vice, in whatever
language it may be, it is prohibited to recite it.” According to Kozodoy, “the
recitation of poems in the Hebrew language, by contrast [to the Arabic]
would in the view of [elders and saintly men] be permissible no matter
what the particular sentiments being expressed, on the grounds that the
language itself is sacred, and, being sacred, purifies and exalts that which
is expressed in its syllables. The language, they would say, is an elevating
and dignifying force; by its inherent sublimity it sacralizes the lowliest of
subject matters.” Kozodoy continues that Maimonides would have no use
for this view, from the standpoint of the subject, not the language. As we
shall see, Maimonides may not have approved of the material presented
in this essay, the decidedly erotic poetry of Jacob ben Elazar.^12
Biblical Intertexuality and Influence of Arabic Literature
The principal text for the genre of erotic poetry was the biblical Song of
Songs. Hebrew poets wove biblical verses into their own works with in-
genuity. Although the format, metrics, and themes of these Hebrew love
poems may be derived from Arabic poetry, their images and language
were purely biblical and midrashic. The sensuous language of Song of
Songs aroused later Jewish poets to emulate the idyllic language, erotic
images, and ideas of this collection of biblical love stories as intertextu-
ally they recalled the sheer joy, revelry, and lovemaking of the lovers in
the biblical book, which resonates with explicit corporeal imagery and
sensual expressions of affection between the coy but compulsive lovers.
Descriptive passages of passionate love scenes found their way into the
poetry of the Andalusians.^13 The love poetry of the Middle Ages is filled
with expressions like “lovesick (holat ’ahavim) am I,” declares the damsel
who is totally enraptured with her soulmate, or “my beloved is like a ga-
zelle” (domeh dodi li-sevi ’o le- ̔ofer ha-’ayyalim).^14 The love scenes in Song
of Songs with its rich settings were magically exported into the secular