PAGIS, DAN

PAGIS, DAN (1930–1986), Hebrew poet and scholar. Born in Radautz in Romanian Bukovina, Pagis grew up in Vienna. During World War II he was interned in a concentration camp. In 1946 he arrived in Israel and lived for a while in kibbutz Merḥavyah. Later he worked as a teacher at a regional school in Kiryat Gat and at the same time enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Pagis earned his Ph.D. there and was subsequently appointed professor of medieval Hebrew literature. He published several scholarly works, including The Secular Poetry and Poetics of Moses Ibn Ezra and His Generation (1970), Change and Tradition in Secular Poetry: Spain and Italy (1976), Al Sod Hatum ("A Secret Sealed," 1986), and Poetry Aptly Explained – Studies and Essays on Medieval Hebrew Poetry (1993). Together with his academic work, Pagis published eight books of poetry and is considered one of the seminal poets of his generation. The horrors and memories of the Holocaust are a major theme in his work. Other concerns are the unbridled passage of time, scenes from daily life, and the abortive fruits of the scientific revolution. Pagis' poetry exhibits word-play, wit, and sophistication while avoiding pathos and striving for simple expression. His poetry collections include She'on Ha-Ḥol ("The Shadow Dial," 1959), Shehut Meuḥeret ("Late Leisure," 1964); Gilgul ("Transformations," 1970); Mo'aḥ ("Brain," 1975); Milim Nirdafot ("Double Exposure," 1982); Shenem Asar Panim ("Twelve Faces," 1984); Shirim Aḥaronim ("Last Poems," 1987). His Collected Poems appeared in 1991. Pagis also wrote a book for children ("The Egg that Disguised Itself," 1973) and edited a critical edition of the collected verse of David Vogel. Selected Poems in English translation appeared in 1972 and 1992. Various poems have been translated into other languages, and two books appeared in German translation (1990, 1993). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Zehavi, "The Confines of Language and Beyond," in: Modern Hebrew Literature, 9:1–2 (1983), 70–78; W. Bargad and S.F. Chyet, in: Israeli Poetry (1986), 103–5; A. Dykman, "A Poet in the Eternal City," in: Compar(a)ison, 2 (1994), 41–56; S. DeKoven Ezrahi, "Conversations in the Cemetery," in: Holocaust Remembrance (1994), 121–33; T. Rübner, "Dan Pagis," in: Begegnung und Erinnerung (1995), 103–16. (Anat Feinberg (2nd ed.)