Ra’hel (Bluwstein) was born in Russia in 1890. She arrived
in Palestine in 1909 and soon became a passionate
kibbutznik. Her tightly woven Hebrew poetry expressed
a zeal for the Land and nature, as well as the anguish
of unrequited love, childlessness, and illness. Her last
years were painful ones as she suffered from TB until
her death in 1931. Ra’hel’s timeless poems have become
true Israeli classics, with many set to music. Flowers of
Perhaps is the first English-language collection of this
beloved Israeli poet. Robert Friend’s introduction contains
much new biographical information never before
published in English.
American-born Robert Friend, who died in Jerusalem in
1998, was a renowned, prolific poet and translator. He published
ten volumes of poetry and translated some 800 works
from Hebrew, Yiddish, Spanish, French, German, and
Arabic. The bilingual collection of Hebrew poetry, Found
in Translation: Modern Hebrew Poets, translated to English
by Robert Friend, is also available from The Toby Press.
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