Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabirol

Born in 1021 or 1022 in C""rdoba, Spain, and moving in childhood to the Arab-Jewish center of Saragossa, a mysterious Andalusian poet ""[took] Hebrew poetry to a level of metaphysical sophistication and devotional power it has not seen since."" Jerusalem poet (Hymns & Qualms) and translator (he won the MLA-Scaglione Prize for The Selected Poems of Shmuel HaNagid) Peter Cole has prepared a much-needed Selected Poems of Solomon Ibn Gabriol, revealing much about that poet and his projects. In the long poem, ""Kingdom's Crown,"" as in the shorter pieces and ""shards,"" Gabriol stakes out thorny ground: ""who could approach the place of your dwelling,/ in your raising up over the sphere of mind the Throne of Glory/ in the fields of concealment and splendor,/ at the source of the secret matter,/ where the mind reaches and yields?"" Cole provides a passionate and scholarly introduction and textual notes, together totaling more than half of the book. ( Apr.)