A Century of Yiddish Poetry

Selected, Translated, and Edited by Aaron Kramer

Cornwall Books New York • London • Toronto Contents

Preface 21 Acknowledgments 23

THE FIRST GOLDEN AGE

Folk Songs 29 Hey, hey, hammerkin! 29 Hark, pretty girl, to whatever I ask 29 This tale was once told far and wide 31 I'm a hare out in the world 32 At six I stagger 33 In the front room 34 Were I to be a rabbi 35 Michl Gordon (1823-1890) 36 My Lifetime 36 Shmnel Bernstein (ca. 1830-ca. 1883) 37 False Hope 38 Isaac Leib Peretz (1851-1915) 38 Three Seamstresses 39 There Was a Young Girl Once 40 Don't Think 40 My Muse 41 Morris Winchevsky (1855-1932) 42 Three Sisters 43 In Rain, In the Wind and the Frost 43 My Vow 44 In Battle 44 I Hear a Cry 45 A Broom, and Watch Me Sweep! 46 Sholom Aleichem (1859-1916) 46 Epitaph 47 Simeon Frug (1860-1916) 47 Sand and Stars 48 Spring Song 49 In a Winter's Night 49 Morris Rosenfeld (1862-1923) 50 The Teardrop Millionaire 51 A Teardrop on the Iron 51 My Place 52 To My Beloved 53 Corner of Pain and Anguish 54 My Little Son 54 Shoot the Beast! 56 The Lion 56 What Is the World? 57 Walt Whitman 58 David Edelshtat (1866-1892) 59 To the Muse 59 My Testament 60 My Final Wish 61 From My Journal 61 Leon Zolotkoff (1866-1938) 62 Lullaby of a Worker's Wife 63 David Goldstein (1868-1931) 64 I Told the Sea 64 Hunger 64 Yehoash (1870P-1927) 65 In the Sea 65 Amid the Colorado Mountains 66 On an Immigrant Ship 67 Woolworth Building 68 Cain's Curse 68 To Morris Winchevsky 70 Subway 71 Anna Rapport (1870?-?) 71 Resurrection 72 Joseph Bovshover (1872-1915) 73 To My Brothers 73 The Flower Island 74 To Sing or to Curse 74 It Is a Dream—Yet True . 74 Mother and Daughter 75 To the Wind 76 Resolve 76 To Those in Power 77

8 Abraham Liesin (1872-1938) 78 Russia 78 The Goddess (from The Statue of Liberty) 79 The Spiderwebs (from The Statue of Liberty) 80 Benjamin Rosenblum (1872-1902) 80 At the Cemetery 81 Nahum Babad (1872-1903) 82 To the Poet 82 Love 83 Chaim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934) . 84 Sea Song (from Yehuda Halevi) 84 When I Would Weep 85 The Final Word 86 Isaac Reingold (1873-1903) 88 I Am a Jew (excerpt) 89 The Soldier 89 The Poet's Will 90 Jacob Adler (1874-1974) 91 The Machine Worker 92 Avrom Reisen (1876-1953) 93 The First Immigrants 94 From Cheder 94 Hopes 95 A Winter Song 95 To the Hammer 96 His Works of Wonder ... 96 World Sorrow 97 In a Dark Time 97 To a Snowflake 98 The Pair 99 Eight 99 Night 100 The Promise 101 To My People 101 The Call 101 In Days of Cloud 102 The Laughter 102 From One Side of the World 103 Chaim Roisenblatt (1878-1956) 104 America (excerpt) 104 At the Jubilee 105 I'm a Water Current 106 THE SECOND GOLDEN AGE Joseph Rolnik (1879-1955) 109 At God's Behest 109 My Oceans 109 I. Raboy 110 I Am Not Rich 111 Incognito 112 Heed the Moon 112 Four Paces in Sunlight 112 Eliezer Steinbarg (1880-1932) 113 The Clever Stream 114 The Shirt and the Coat 115 Mani-Leib (1883-1953) 115 On Fifth Avenue 116 By Heavy Locks 116 A Song About a Hunchbacked Pair of Tailors 117 Your Grace 118 The Lands and the Oceans 118 Beauty 119 My Mother 119 Amid the White Tables 119 Ballad of Two 120 Avrom-Moishe Dillon (1883-1934) 121 Our Word 121 Rain 121 I Feel the Whole World's Hardness 122 Till Now 122 Reuben Eisland (1884-1955) 122 The Trees Lead 123 Zische Landau Recites a Poem 123 Joel SUmim (1884P-1944) 124 The Seamstress 125 Israel-Jacob Schwartz (1885-1971) 126 Parting 126 A Little Mother 127 At First They Were White 128 Precious This Soil (excerpt) 129 Moishe Leib Halpern (1886-1932) 129 In the Golden Land 129 The W-w-words of Murdovietz Barnuhle 130 By Its Barrenness 131 Up from Earth There Grows 132

10 Abie Curley, Hero of the War 132 Bread and Fire 133 Who Is 134 Anna Margolin (1887-1952) 135 Mother Earth 135 The Gangster 136 Girls in Crotona Park 136 In the Cafe 136 Nahum Yud (1888-1966) 137 A Winter Song 137 Like the Eyes of Wolves 138 Celia Dropkin (1888-1956) 139 At the Window 139 My Guest (excerpts) 139 H. Leivick (1888-1962) 140 Sacco and Vanzetti's Wednesday (excerpts) 141 Clink-Clank 143 Mine 144 If the Road's Long 144 What's He Doing Here? (from the Spinoza sequence) 145 My Father Used to Call it "Chtsos" 145 It Was the Day That Lost Me 146 Zische Landau (1889-1937) 147 In a Dawn Hour of July 147 Some Words There Are 147 A Little Park, with Few Trees 148 The Song of the White Goat 149 The Countryside, Bright-Grassed and Spacious 149 A. Glanz-Leyeles (1889-1966) 150 Shadows 150 Spanish Ballad 151 Ber Lapin (1889-1952) 152 Hands 153 Brother! 153 Jacob Stodoisky (1890-1962) 154 Debs 154 Leib Neidus (1890-1918) 155 I Love the Forest 156 Lilies 156 Abroad 157 Eliezer Greenberg (1890-1977) 157 Reality and Word 158 Stammerers in All the Tongues of the World 158

11 MarkSchweid (1891-1969) 159 The Milky Way 159 Moideh Ani 160 Ephraim Auerbach (1892-1973) 160 Yellow Leaves 161 The First Builder 161 B. J. Biabstotsky (1892-1962) 162 Autumn 162 Poor People 163 Melech Ravitch (1893-1976) 163 Inside New York's Statue of Liberty 164 Horses 165 Meyer-Zimmel Thatch (1894-1986) 167 California Land 168 In the Luray Caverns 168 Kadia Molodowsky (1894-1975) 169 Jonah 170 Stained Leaves 171 Light Your Lamp 171 My Language 172 Rachel Veprinsky (1895-1981) 173 At Dusk 174 Jacob I. Segal (1896-1954) 174 Abloom 175 Autumn 175 Jacob Glatstein (1896-1971) 176 Smoke 176 Pre-Summer 177 Memorial Poem 177 Watchman of the Dark 178 Naftali Gross (1896-1956) 179 The Operator 179 Malke Heifetz-Tussman (1896-1987) 180 Forgive 180 Hinde Zaretsky (1899-) 181 Our Troubadours 181 Joseph Papiernikoff (1899-) 182 My Speech 183 Me 183 Esther Schumiatcher (1899-1985) 183 Tom Mooney 184 Avrom-Ber Tabachnik (1901-1967) 185 Your Word Is Fire 185

12 The Young Poet 186 Morris Rosenfeld on the Day of His 60th Jubilee 187 Itzik Manger (1901-1969) 188 Evensong 189 Epitaph 189 The Ballad of White Bread 190 The Ballad of the White Glow 191 The Sacrifice of Isaac 192 Queen Jezebel 192 Cain 193 Rebecca 194 Joseph 194 Jephthah's Daughter 195 Ricudah Potash (1903-1965) 195 Safad 196 Abba Stoltzenberg (1905-1941) 196 Ashes 197 Poor Women 197 Meyer Shtiker (1905-1983) 198 Karl Marx Visits Heinrich Heine (excerpt) 198 Rome, October 7 199 Ballad Itzik Manger 199 Make My Words Simple, God 200 When I Die 201 Menke Katz (1906-) 201 The Pomegranate Tree in Our Yard 202 Joy 202 An Orange 203 Nahum Bomze (1906-1954) 204 Alone 204 Brache Kopstein (1909-) 205 Waiting 205 A. Lurie (dates unknown) 206 The Bird 206

SOVIET POETS

David Hofstein{ 1889-ca. 1952) 209 I Know That All 209 A Greeting 210 In Each Yiddish Word 211 LeibKvitko (1890-1952) 211 Day and Night 212

13 Get Up At Break of Day - 212 Cabbage 213 A Three-Part Song 213 Moishe Broderson (1890-1956) 215 Time Laughed 215 Aaron Kushnirov (1891-1949) 216 My Earth Lies 216 Die, Die My Outcry 216 Isaac Platner (1895-1961) 217 Of My Own Self 218 Peretz Markish (1895-1952) 218 In the Last Glimmer 219 Nightcry 219 Splinters 220 In and Out 220 Moishe Kulbak (1896-1940) 221 Round and Round and Round I Go 222 Recognition 222 Two ... 223 The Young White Goat 223 Izzy Charik (1898-1937) 224 And Blue Bursts Just the Same from Heaven 225 Samuel Halkin (1899-1960) 226 The Glass 226 Precious Is This Star to Me 226 Poets 227 Itzik Feffer (1900-1952) 227 My Curse 228 The Vow 229 Ziame Talessin (1907-) 230 "Geh ich mir arois oifn ganikl" 230 Thirst 231 Hirsh Osherowitz (1908-) 232 Dusk 232 Shike Driz (1908-1971) 233 The Soul of the Fiddle 233 Meyer Charatz (1912-) 235 To the Skies of Israel 235 Rochel Boimvoll (1914-) 236 A Language 236 A Smile 237 A Conversation with the Reader 237 David Bromberg (1915-) 238'

14 In the Basement of My Memory 238 YoslKerler 1918-) 239 Timber 239 My Rib 240 August 12, 1952 241

POETS OF THE LEFT

Abraham Victor (1871-1954) 245 Denver 245 Simeon Nepom (1882-1939) 246 In the Trolley 247 Moishe Nadir (1885-1943) 247 Finally 248 It's Gay Out 248 Monument to the Unknown Soldier 249 Spain 249 Mother Tongue 250 Heinrich Heine 250 Cow 251 1928 252 Bacchanal 252 Sara Barkan (1888-1957) 253 The Little Breadwinner and Her Father 253 A War Mother 254 From the Sickbed 25"4 Shifre Weiss (1889-1955) 255 Dreams 256 L.Gorelik (1889-1941) 256 To the Enemy 257 Louis Miller (1889-1968) 257 In the Shop 258 Sunday on 14th Street 258 Peace,—Peace!— 259 Aaron Maisel (1890-1936) 260 The Song of the Unemployed 261 Louis Dinsky (1890-1976) 262 The Face of Anguish 262 Arn Kurtz (1891-1964) 263 The Prisoner 263 Hunger in Golden Vats 264 Itzik Efros( 1892-ca. 1960) 265 The Jewish Flag 266

15 Zische Weinper (1893-1957) 266 The Old Indian 267 At the Granite 268 Our Treasure 269 Nahum Weissman (1894-1944) 270 Dawn at Grand Central 270 Sarah Fell-Yellin (1895-1968) 271 "Democracy" 272 YoslKotler (1896-1935) 272 Over the Sea without a Visa 273 At the Window 274 Yosl Cohen (1897-1977) 275 1905 275 Shmuel Don (1897-1972) 276 Snow on the Mountains 277 From my Depths 278 Moishe Shifris (1897-1977) 278 Song of the Shoeshine Boy 279 Empty Chimneys 280 *Wica(1898-?) 281 I Wait for Work 281 Isaac Ekhonen Ronch (1899-1985) 282 Hands 282 The Song of the Kitchen 283 Moses' Kiss 284 Moishe Kish (1899-?) 285 In the Town of the Perishing Lord 285 Shaye Budin (1899-) 286 At Jefferson's Grave in Monticello 287 Ber Green (1901-) 288 I Shall Not Disappear without a Trace 288 Hungry 289 Gastonia 289 Alexander Pomerantz (1901-1965) 290 Ballad of an Italian Gypsy Girl 291 Nathan D.Korman (1901-1981) 291 I'm Arrested 292 The Devils' Dance 292 Chaneh Safran (1902-) 293 On the Uphill of Time 293 In Terrible Days 294 Joseph Greenspan (1902-1934) 295 The Jobless Bricklayer 295

16 A Last Sound 296 Chaim Schwartz (1903-) 297 Moses (excerpt) 297 In One Day 298 David Seltzer (1904-) 299 Ballad of Two Sisters 299 At the Blazing Bonfire 300 David Opalov (1904-1986) 301 The Haymarket Tragedy 302 Martin Birnbaum (1904-1986) 302 Song of an Old Operator 303 The Blind Woman 304 Benjamin Katz (1905-) 305 My Father the Potter 305 Sholem Shtern (1907-) . 306 Fight (from In Canada) 306 Yuri Suhl (1908-1986) 308 The Wind 308 My Song Will Be That Fists Fling High 309 Song of the Unemployed Worker 310 A Mother Laments (from A Peace Cantata) 310 Chaim Pbtkin (1910-) 311 I and the Sewing Machine 311 Ash on the Sun 312 Dora Teitelboim (1914-) 313 My Lullabies 314 My Mother's Hands 314 Shed No Tears 315

POETS OF THE HOLOCAUST

From Vilna Went Forth Still Another Decree (poet unknown) 319 Mordecai Gebirtig (1877-1942) 320 Aflame! 320 Isaac Katzenelson (1886-1944) 321 The Song of the Slaughtered Jewish People (excerpt) 322 Miriam Ulinover (1890-1944) 323 Morning 323 Aaron Zeitlin (1898-1973) 324 Elegy . 324 I Was Not Privileged 325 The Old Music-Man 325

17 Rochl Korn (1898-1982) 326 I'd Like to Stop 326 Heshvan 327 All the Forbidden Roads 328 All That with Eagerness Obeyed Me 328 Joseph Rubinstein (1904-1978) 329 The Chimney 329 Leib Apeskin (1908-1944) 330 Why Was It So Bright? 330 "Shmerke" Katcherginsky (1908-1955) 331 Warsaw 331 Ballad of Itzik Wittenberg 332 Binem Heller (1908-) 333 A Song about Yiddish 333 "Old Things" 334 Israel Emiot (1909-1978) 335 Mendele 335 Had My Mother Lived 336 Chaim Grade (1910-1982) 336 A Naked Boy 337 Yehuda Halevi 338 Rajzel Zychlinsky (1910-) 339 The Silent Partner 339 My Mother Looks at Me 340 A Snow Falls 340 We Go On Living 341 What Has Become Of 341 My Prayer to the Chimney " 342 At Night in New York 342 This Is Not the Road 343 Jacob Friedman (1910-1973) 343 Who Brings the Songs? 344 A Small Drama 345 Avrom Sutzkever (1913-) 345 In the Dungeon 346 My Mother (concluding sections) 346 The Lost Roses (from "The Three Roses") 348 The Teacher Mira 348 A Sword with Wings 350

18 Song of a Jewish Poet in 1943 351 If No Trace of My People Shall Be Found 352 Don't Sing the Sorrowful 352 The Words of the Master 353 A Concert at Night, an Interment at Noon 353 Remembrance of Three Flamingos 354 Pre-day 355 Remembrance of Marc Chagall 355 The Third Hand 356 Moishe Shimmel (dates unknown) 356 To a Little Boy 357 Jacob (Jack) Gordon (ca. 1916-ca. 1943) 358 The Bridge Reverberates Each Step We Take 358 While Carrying Loads of Timber 359 Leah Rudnitsky (1916-1943) 359 Birds Are Drowsing 360 S. Shenker (dates unknown) 360 The Grief-Stricken Heart 360 Lerke Rosenblum (dates unknown) 361 I Yearn 361 Hirsh Glik (1922-1944) 362 Not a Sound; the Night is Starry 362 Partisan Song 363 Chaneh H at tin (1925-) 364 A Jewish Child 364 Index of Poets 367

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