Img. ID: 194290
Fol. 2v: First parchment flyleaf from a mutilated manuscript of c.1400:
Full-page poem in the form of a tree with a vertical stem and diagonal branched lines. The lines are verses from a poem by Yehiel ben Harosh מדושתי ובן גרני דגני והפרי אשר גדל בן גיל הקריב written in alternating brown and red square script. Each verse ends with the syllable Ni (ני). The tree emanates from a large foliate motif in brown and red ink and is flanked by inscriptions, written by several hands.
The first "Tree-Poem" (שיר-העץ) in Hebrew was composed by Abraham ibn Ezra (Tudela, 1089-1164) in honour of Rabbenu Tam, the grandson of Rashi (see Pagis 1993:101-102 and Song No. 7). He was followed by another famous Sephardi poet, Todros ben Abraham Halevi Abulafia (Toledo, 1247–after 1300), who wrote two poems in tree form (figs. 1, 2), one in praise of the RaMaH (R. Meir Halevi ben Todros Abulafia, d.Toledo1244; Pagis:102-103, song No. 8); the other in praise of a certain Samuel
(השר שמואל - Elizur 2004:116; Levin 2011). The graphic similarity between the tree poems indicates that Yehiel followed Abulafia's tree in detail including e.g. the floral decoration at the base of the tree.
According to Dan Pagis, Tree Poems and Menorah Poems are built according to one principle, since they are similar in shape. Although in most cases the Menorah branches are written in rounded lines, there are Menorot with diagonal branches (Pagis 1993:100).