Out of Three or Four People in a Room by Yehuda Amichai
"Out of Three or Four People in a Room" by Yehuda Amichai is a poignant poem that subtly explores the aftermath of war and the complexities of human experience in its wake. The poem opens with a recurring refrain that highlights the isolation of individuals amidst collective trauma, suggesting that in any gathering, there is often a singular person who stands apart, gazing out at the world. The first stanza presents an unnamed figure reflecting on the devastation left by a recent battle, capturing the feelings of emptiness and disillusionment that follow conflict. It contrasts the innocent lives of people before the war with their transformed selves, described metaphorically as "small change," indicating a loss of wholeness.
In the second stanza, the once-faceless figure gains a specific identity, becoming a soldier who grapples with the meaning of his actions and experiences. This shift adds layers to the exploration of personal and collective identity amidst violence, revealing the struggles for justification and understanding that many face. The poem, while not overtly political, encapsulates the emotional landscape of those affected by war, reflecting on themes of loss, identity, and the profound impacts of conflict on the human psyche. Through vivid imagery and metaphor, Amichai invites readers to contemplate the deeper implications of battle beyond mere victory, making it a significant work in understanding the complexities of life in a conflict-ridden society.
Out of Three or Four People in a Room by Yehuda Amichai
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: “A-mach a triuir no ceathrar,” 1958 (collected in The Selected Poetry of Yehuda Amichai, 1996)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
Although not blatantly political in focus, “Out of Three or Four People in a Room” is clearly informed by Amichai’s experiences in war. Both of its stanzas open with the same refrain: “Out of three or four people in a room/ One always stands at the window.” However, each stanza regards the figure of which it speaks, the “One,” in unique but related terms.
In stanza one, the figure, here deliberately unnamed, gazes from a window on the ravages of a just-concluded battle. The figure witnesses “the evil among thorns/ And the fires on the hill,” left only with an emptiness that appears to be the only tangible result of the carnage. He observes that before the battle “people . . . went out whole,” only to return after the conflict “Like small change to their homes.” Clearly, Amichai’s metaphor expresses the ambiguity many Israelis felt in the wake of their “victory.”
By stanza two, the poem’s political imagery becomes even more blatant. No longer faceless, the poem’s central figure takes on both a face and a gender. “His hair dark above his thoughts,” the figure adopts the identity of a soldier, complete with “kit bag” and “rations.” He seeks a reason for fighting, but, like his desperate and disillusioned cohort in the opening stanza, is ultimately left only with hollow epithets to console him.
Bibliography
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Abramson, Glenda The Writing of Yehuda Amichai: A Thematic Approach. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989.
Alter, Robert. After the Tradition: Essays on Modern Jewish Writing. New York: Dutton, 1969.
Alter, Robert. “Israel’s Master Poet.” The New York Times Magazine, June 8, 1986, 40.
Cohen, Joseph. Voices of Israel: Essays on and Interviews with Yehuda Amichai, A. B. Yehoshua, T. Carmi, Aharon Appelfeld, and Amos Oz. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990.
Hirsch, Edward. “In Language Torn from Sleep.” The New York Times Book Review, August 3, 1986, pp. 14-15.
Hirsch, Edward. “At the White Heat.” In How to Read a Poem: And Fall in Love with Poetry. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1999.
Lapon-Kandelshein, Essi. To Commemorate the Seventieth Birthday of Yehuda Amichai: A Bibliography of His Work in Translation. Ramat Gan, Israel: Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, 1994.
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