Bob Becker of the Haynt project just notified me of an Australian web site dedicated to the Polish poet, Yisroel Shtern, who died in 1942 or 1943. There’s plenty of materials in Yiddish, some of which are translated into English.
Israel Stern (1894-1942) also starved in the ghetto [as did Hershele Danielewitz in the paragraph before this one]. A legend spread that he lay down on the stone pavement of a ruined courtyard and did not budge for days until he died of hunger. Upon this legend, H. Leivick composed in 1943 the moving lyric “My Brother, Israel Stern,” in which he compared the self-sacrifice of this religious poet to the akeda of the patriarch Isaac.
[Sol Liptzin. 1985. A History of Yiddish Literature. p.430.]
It’s a wonder, how tender and pure the sick are,
gazing across vast distances, seeing things that no one else does,
staying up at night, and smiling in the darkness,
as their beds caress them with the joy of having solved a mystery.
Is it then a wonder, how the sick arise from napping
rich and perfumed (like a seed awakening from sleep in spring),
lie fresh in quiet wards, and listen as a fly knocks
on their headboards, and someone calls their names?[Yisroel Shtern. Springtime in the Hospital, translated by Jon Levitow. English, Yiddish.]
Posted by jim at September 8, 2005 07:21 AM | TrackBackWhy are Sholem Aleichem’s books so full of life? The talk is, after all, not of blue but of grey skies; of angry clouds, that often scream dark rains over the frightened heads of a whole people. Just as our foolish world has as many unemployed as there are stars in the night sky, so Sholem Aleichem’s work is full of troublemakers, miseries, misfortunes, the need for permits to reside outside the Pale, ethnic quotas, and (for a change) straightforward poverty, suffering and wanderings.
[Yisroel Shtern. “Sholem Aleichem: On the twentieth anniversary of his death”, translated by Beni Gothajner. English, Yiddish.]
Dear Uncle,
In your quote from Sol Liptzin Yisroel Stern is called Stern. The Shtern website you announce gives the name of the poet as Shtern. Which side are you on?
Posted by: Lucas Bruyn on September 18, 2005 03:23 AMHi, Lucas. Sol Liptzin has Israel Stern, whereas the website has Yisroel Shtern, and you have Yisroel Stern. I'd usually go with the YIVO-style transliteration. I don't know which is right, but I try to be consistent. Another choice, since Shtern was a Polish citizen, might be Sztern.
Posted by: jim on September 18, 2005 05:46 AMWell, Tim,
Kh. Leyvik (to use YIVO) uses Stern both in the transliterated title and in the English translation of the title of his Stern bundle.
How do you make out whether you are transliterating a 'shin' or a 'sin' if there is no pintele on the right or the left?
One might argue that Yiddish 'shtern', in all its meanings, is written with a 'shin'. However, the German star is written Stern and that is how he might have written his name while in Vienna.
Both Stern and Shtern are found, as Jewish names. CATNYP decided for Shtern. So does Firestone - without giving any reason. By the way, how did you like my Stern translation:
http://shakti.trincoll.edu/~mendele/vol14/vol14037.txt
I should have added that your source, the super nudnik of Haynt, gave the solution. He wrote:
I added a link to the Yisroel Schtern site to my"nokh yidishe veb-bleter"section.
Hi, Lucas.
I've written H. Leivick because that seems to be how he wrote his name in the Latin alphabet in the USA: (i.e., copyright notices in two of his books which I own). Mr Leivick's real name was Leivick Halpern (according to Sol Liptzin) which he changed when he started to publish so as not to be confused with M L Halpern (a di yunge poet). I'm not sure what the intial H. stood for (perhaps Halpern), but it's not a khet, but a he.
I guessthat if I knew which transliteration Shtern preferred while he was alive, I would go with that. It's interesting to note that Sol Liptzin has both spellings for two different poets in his History of Yiddish Literature: Sholem Shtern and Israel Stern. I suppose I. Shtern could have also opted for Sztern in Polish orthography. In the meantime, I bought a copy of Leivick's in treblinke bin ikh nit geven, which has his poem meyn bruder, yisroel shtern, in which Shtern's name is spelled in Yiddish with a standard, undotted shin which is transliterated as 'sh'. (In any event, I am sure that Mr Stern's poetry will survive my feeble attempts to transliterate his name for an anglophone audience.)
I thoroughly enjoyed your translation and in-depth discussion of Shtern's poem nokhn khirurgishn tish. You should think about publishing a small bi-lingual anthology of Yiddish poetry.
Posted by: jim on September 29, 2005 05:11 PMJim,
The poem on Stern by Halper Leivick is also printed in the 'leder un eseyen' bundle. (where H. rather looks like KH.).
By the way Stern, or Shtern had two brothers:
"http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Ciechanow/cie275.html
The following poem was written by the youngest brother of the great poet, Yisroel Shtern. Shimon lived many years in Ciechanow, where he was active in the Zionist organization as well as culturally. He wrote poems. Some appeared in the journal, “Shprotzungen” in the late 1920's in Warsaw.
Yisroel Shtern had another brother, Hirsh. (He was called “Hershele”), a well-known figure in Warsaw's Writers' Union. He was on friendly terms with everyone, was a fine singer of folk songs. Many of them he composed for the famous folk-singer, Kipnis. He also spent much time with his family in Ciechanow. By trade he was a boot-maker.
This poem “Tears” Shimon dedicated to his artist friend Yehoshua Grosbard."
Does Sol Liptzin mention them?
The Canadion poet Sholem Shtern was, according to his family, not related to Yisroel Stern (even though he had a brother Yisroel).
Because of your nice words about my translation, here another one:
gute mentshn. Yisroel Stern (text and other translation on Shtern website)
Good ones
The world their eyes in passing see
like the summer passing through the field.
Like the earth dressed with eternity
growth their word is bound to yield.
Beheading himself is Evil, that giant tall,
when one of them shines forth: I am! It's me!
Pacing silently, silver and moonlike small,
dark rivers flow good, fresh and greenily
Sighting poverty, injustice and sin,
heavy times riding on human shoulders,
their glance is a mother: able for child and kin
to move mountains away, giant boulders...
Their power immortal amidst the stars is lying
and is the first to alight,
cause when one cries it is to hear that crying
and speeds away into the suspect niches of the night...
Their power locked in a hiding, like death lonely,
though dream reflects and frolicks on its walls,
thus angers heaven slowly turns red only,
when a part of a city has burnt down and falls...
Only when the tears of the good ones near the fire,
is it the sea where time's profet comes swimming out,
for only when the tears of the good ones mix with fire,
the heart of the world gets scalded and cries out
cries out:
Good ones! Cut into life like a screw, a blight,
your victory is the blessing over all the land.
you will catch the bullets in mid-flight,
your shield God himself keeps in his hand.
Lucas. Thank you for the other translation. I'll take a look at the original. Liptzin does not mention either of Shtern's brothers.
Posted by: jim on September 30, 2005 06:33 AM