Noam Starik posted the following short poem on his Yiddish blog. It so struck my fancy, that I tried to translate it, even though I have other poems to finish translating.
boymer, matseyves ... matseyves un boymer,
un same baym parkan dos fun shoymer.
un oybn, in kep fun akatsien grine—
dort hobn di feygl a freye medine.
zey zeen fun oybn nit zeltn bigneyve,
es kumt vos a mol tsu a naye matseyve.
es kumen oft mentshn un zukhn dort vemen:
di tayere shotns, di hartsike nemen.
un same baym parkan hoybt zikh a bretl:
es ligt dort bahaltn der khote fun shtetl.
[moyshe taytsh a besoylem, lodzsh 1910]
Trees, gravestones ... gravestones and trees,
and close by the fence that of the guard.
And overhead, at the tops of acacias green—
there the birds have a free state.
They watch from above but seldom covertly,
it comes once again to a new gravestone.
[Awaiting translation.]
And close by the fence, a board was erected:
here hidden lies the sinner of the town.
[Moyshe Taytsh A Cemetery, Lodz 1910]
[Addendum 06/20/04: In my haste, I dropped the fourth stanza. I’ve restored it. Thanks to Noam Starik.]
Posted by jim at June 18, 2004 06:13 AM | TrackBacksheyn ibergezetst.
gib a kuk az es felt di ferte strofe:
es kumen oft mentshn un zukhn dort vemen:
di tayere shotns, di hartsike nemen.
Kol-Tuv.
Posted by: Noam Starik on June 20, 2004 03:24 AM