Notes on the Spring Holidays ["Purim"]
The Jewess, Hadassah, takes the name of the moon-goddess, Esther;
her kinsman, Mordecai, whatever his Hebrew name,
has the name of the Babylonian god.
If you have intelligence and beauty, Esther,
"tell no one of your people or your kindred,"
and you will live in the king's palace and be a queen.
"We are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish!"
The hands, heavy with rings, are Esther's
but the voice is the voice of Hadassah.
Copyright Credit: Charles Reznikoff, "“Purim” (from Notes on the Spring Holidays)" from The Poems of Charles Reznikoff: 1918-1975, edited by Seamus Cooney. Copyright © 2005 by The
Estate of Charles Reznikoff. Used by permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Black
Sparrow / David R Godine, Publisher, Inc., godine.com.
Estate of Charles Reznikoff. Used by permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of Black
Sparrow / David R Godine, Publisher, Inc., godine.com.
Source: The Poems of Charles Reznikoff: 1918-1975 (Black Sparrow / David R Godine, Publisher, Inc., 2005)