There are several
English translations
to the song.
Some are closer to the original
while others are
a freer rendition.
from the Hebrew
prepared by Yael Levine
by Naomi Shemer
The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.
And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.
And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).
For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold...
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram's horn (shofar) calls out (i.e. is being heard) on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.
And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!
Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.
A translation by Chaya Galai
is posted on the official site
of the Israel Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
by Naomi Shemer
The mountain air is clear as water
The scent of pines around
Is carried on the breeze of twilight,
And tinkling bells resound.
The trees and stones there softly slumber,
A dream enfolds them all.
So solitary lies the city,
And at its heart -- a wall.
Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of
bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.
The wells ran dry of all their water,
Forlorn the market square,
The Temple Mount dark and deserted,
In the Old City there.
And in the caverns in the mountain,
The winds howl to and fro,
And no-one takes the Dead Sea highway,
That leads through Jericho.
Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of
bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.
But as I sing to you, my city,
And you with crowns adorn,
I am the least of all your children,
Of all the poets born.
Your name will scorch my lips for ever,
Like a seraph's kiss, I'm told,
If I forget thee, golden city,
Jerusalem of gold.
Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of
bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.
The wells are filled again with water,
The square with joyous crowd,
On the Temple Mount within the City,
The shofar rings out loud.
Within the caverns in the mountains
A thousand suns will glow,
We'll take the Dead Sea road together,
That runs through Jericho.
Oh, Jerusalem of gold, and of light and of
bronze,
I am the lute for all your songs.
ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS -
50 YEARS OF HEBREW SONG
In this rendition, the refrain erroneously
repeats itself in the middle of the last stanza.
Here is another translation
of the entire song.
JERUSALEM OF GOLD
by Naomi Shemer
As clear as wine, the wind is flying
Among the dreamy pines
As evening light is slowly dying
And a lonely bell still chimes,
So many songs, so many stories
The stony hills recall...
Around her heart my city carries
A lonely ancient wall.
Yerushalaim all of gold
Yerushalaim, bronze and light
Within my heart I shall treasure
Your song and sight.
Alas, the dry wells and fountains,
Forgotten market-day
The sound of horn from Temple's mountain
No longer calls to pray,
The rocky caves at night are haunted
By sounds of long ago
When we were going to the Jordan
By way of Jericho.
Yerushalaim all of gold
Yerushalaim, bronze and light
Within my heart I shall treasure
Your song and sight.
But when I come to count your praises
And sing Hallel to you
With pretty rhymes I dare not crown you
As other poets do,
Upon my lips
is always burning
Your name, so dear, so old:
If I forget Yerushalaim
Of bronze and light and gold...
Yerushalaim all of gold
Yerushalaim, bronze and light
Within my heart I shall treasure
Your song and sight.
Back to the wells and to the fountains
Within the ancient walls
The sound of horn from Temple's mountain
Again so loudly calls,
From rocky caves, this very morning
A thousand suns will glow
As we shall go down to the Jordan
By way of Jericho.
Yerushalaim all of gold
Yerushalaim, bronze and light
Within my heart I shall treasure
Your song and sight.
This version appears, inter alia, in
Landmarks:
Resource material, poetry, songs,
games and activities,
edited by Avi Tsur,
and published by the Israeli
Ministry of Education,
Culture and Sport,
in 1998 in Jerusalem: 103.
It also accompanies
the musical notes
to the song at
MUSICAL ADVENTURES.
Portions of the second, third,
and fourth stanzas
appeared in an article
devoted to
the song
published in the December 1967 issue
of the Reader's Digest.
Linda Gottlieb, "The Song That Took a City",
Reader's Digest, December 1967: 113, 115.
The water cisterns are dry,
The marketplace is empty,
We cannot visit our temple in the
ancient city
Where winds wail in the rocky
caves
Over the mountains.
We cannot go to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.
Your name burns my lips like a
seraphim's kiss.
Let me not forget thee, O Jerusalem
of gold!
We have come back now to the
water cisterns.
Back to the marketplace.
The sound of the shofar is heard
From the Wailing Wall in the ancient city.
And from the rocky caves in the mountains,
A thousand suns are rising.
We shall go now to the Dead Sea,
Go by way of Jericho!
Yet another translation
of the first
and last stanzas
was carried out by
Chai Notes.
[Former URL: http://www.rso.cornell.edu:8000/chainotes/repertoire.html]
This version was arranged
by Rebecca Shaefer.
Mountain air as clear as wine and the scent of pine,
Carried on the evening wind with the sound of bells.
And in the slumber of trees and stones,
Imprisoned in her dream is the city which dwells alone,
A wall within her heart.
Jerusalem of gold, of copper, and of light,
Behold I am a harp for all your songs.
We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and the square.
The shofar calls on the Temple Mount in the old city.
And from the caves in the rocks, a thousand suns glow again.
We will go down to the Dead Sea by way of Jericho.
Jerusalem of gold, of copper, and of light,
Behold I am a harp for all your songs.
Note: Several changes
have been inserted in this translation
in places where it was incorrect.
Two partial translations
to the song
are posted on phish.net,
an unofficial site of Phish.
Both, however, clearly depart
from the original,
and contain themes
that are not present
in the Hebrew.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THESE TRANSLATIONS.
Read about Phish and the
Yerushalayim Shel Zahav
connection
at web pages
LYRICS
and
MUSIC.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
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