Yehuda Amichai's poetry grew along with his adopted country. The poet left Germany as the Nazi power was rising. As an Israeli citizen, he became a freedom fighter.
Israel’s best known poet, Yehuda Amichai, was born in 1924 in Wurzburg, Germany. His family moved to Eretz Israel in 1935. After completing his high school studies, he served in the British Army's Jewish Brigade in World War II and with the Palmach unit during the War of Independence in 1948.
The poet studied at Hebrew University, majoring in literature and Biblical Studies. After completing his university studies, he taught at several different academic institutions in Israel and in other countries, including the United States, where he was visiting professor at the University of California in 1971 and 1976. He was also a visiting poet at New York University in 1987.
It is thought that Yehuda Amichai has been “the most widely translated Hebrew poet since King David.” His influence was strong in the United States, where his readings drew large audiences.
His style is considered accessible like Robert Frost, while also including the use of many poetic devices in Hebrew that are untranslatable. He began using a colloquial style in the 1950s that broke with the more traditional, classic verse and proved to be highly successful for the poet’s career.
Influenced by W. H Auden and Dylan Thomas, Amichai became a true craftsman, employing the unique resources of the Hebrew language including its sounds, idioms, levels of diction, and word associations. But he also took full advantage of the long Hebrew literary tradition of almost three thousand years.
Amichai’s life and poetry were both strongly influenced by Israel’s struggle to existence. He said, “My personal history has coincided with a larger history. For me it's always been one and the same.”
Amichai’s poetry had wide influence from students to world leaders: Yitzhak Rabin included in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech Amichai lines from the poet widely noted poem, "God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children."
Amichai was awarded many prizes for his poetry, including the 1982 Israel Prize. His literary reputation rests primarily on his more than eighty collection of poetry. His poetry has gained recognition internationally, having been translated into more than 30 languages. In addition to poetry, Amichai has published short stories, many plays, and one novel.
Yehuda Amichai died at age 76 on September 22, 2000, in Jerusalem after suffering a long illness.
Sample poems of Yehuda Amichai
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