היים סאָוועטישע
Soviet Home
Work 252 of 440
Page 307. 'Heym Sovetishe' (Soviet Home) begins the cycle about Leivick's 1925 visit to his birthplace. 'Ihumen' (Yiddish name; now Chervech/Cherven in Belarus, Minsk region) — Leivick was born there in 1888. Section I: 'Frost. Frost.' — the winter landscape. 'Ot bin ikh' (here I am) — the homecoming declaration. 'Verter gekhornte' (grained words) — crystallized language. He calls to 'fentserlekh' (little windows) to open, but admits he is 'farshlosener guf' (a closed body), unable to be open — the emigrant's emotional walls. 'Vintmil un telegraf-drot' (windmill and telegraph-wire) — old and new technology — greet him. His 'trot... fun Nyu-York' (step from New York) dances on 'Ihumener vegn' (Ihumen roads) — America meeting Belarus. 'Nes hot getrofn' (a miracle has happened) — reaching all four directions, his face 'fentsterdik loykht' (shines like a window), body becomes 'toyerdik ofn' (open like a gate).
היים סאָוועטישע
איהומען *)
I
פֿראָסט. פֿראָסט. —
איך קום און איך זאָג: אָט בין איך.
ווערטער געקאָרנטע, אות נאָך אות,
פֿאַר לידער פֿאַר נײַע געפֿין איך.
פֿענצטערלעך, עפֿנט זיך אויף,
דעכער פֿון אַלע פֿיר סופֿן —
איך בין פֿאַרשלאָסענער גוף
און קען ניט, באַדויער, זײַן אָפֿן.
ווינטמיל און טעלעגראַף־דראָט
קומען מיט פֿרייד מיר אַנטקעגן:
טראָט מײַנס פֿון ניו־יאָרק דער שטאָט
טאַנצט אויף איהומענער וועגן.
אַלע פֿיר סופֿן דערגרייכט,
נס האָט געטראָפֿן, געטראָפֿן!
פּנים מײַנס פֿענצטערדיק לויכט,
גוף מײַנער — טויערדיק אָפֿן.
*) נאָמען פֿון מײַן געבורט־שטעטל — אין סאָוועטישן ווײַסרוסלאַנד,
מינסקער ראַיאָן. איצט הייסט דאָס שטעטל אַנדערש: טשערוועך.
איך האָב באַזוכט דאָס שטעטל אין 1925.
Heym Sovetishe
Ihumen *)
I
Frost. Frost. —
Ikh kum un ikh zog: ot bin ikh.
Verter gekhornte, os nokh os,
far lider far naye gefin ikh.
Fentserlekh, efnt zikh oyf,
dekher fun ale fir sufn —
ikh bin farshlosener guf
un ken nit, badoyer, zayn ofn.
Vintmil un telegraf-drot
kumen mit freyd mir antkegn:
trot mayns fun Nyu-York der shtot
tantst oyf Ihumener vegn.
Ale fir sufn dergreykht,
nes hot getrofn, getrofn!
Ponim mayns fentsterdik loykht,
guf mayner — toyerdik ofn.
*) Nomen fun mayn geburt-shtetl — in Sovetishn Vaysrusland,
Minsker rayon. Itst heyst dos shtetl andersh: Tshervech.
Ikh hob bazukht dos shtetl in 1925.
Soviet Home
Ihumen *)
I
Frost. Frost. —
I come and I say: here I am.
Words grained, letter after letter,
for songs for new ones I find.
Little windows, open yourselves,
roofs from all four directions —
I am a closed body
and cannot, regrettably, be open.
Windmill and telegraph-wire
come joyfully to meet me:
my step from New York the city
dances on Ihumen roads.
All four directions reached,
a miracle has happened, happened!
My face shines like a window,
my body — open like a gate.
*) Name of my birthplace — in Soviet Belorussia,
Minsk region. Now the shtetl is called differently: Chervech.
I visited the shtetl in 1925.
Page 307. 'Heym Sovetishe' (Soviet Home) begins the cycle about Leivick's 1925 visit to his birthplace. 'Ihumen' (Yiddish name; now Chervech/Cherven in Belarus, Minsk region) — Leivick was born there in 1888. Section I: 'Frost. Frost.' — the winter landscape. 'Ot bin ikh' (here I am) — the homecoming declaration. 'Verter gekhornte' (grained words) — crystallized language. He calls to 'fentserlekh' (little windows) to open, but admits he is 'farshlosener guf' (a closed body), unable to be open — the emigrant's emotional walls. 'Vintmil un telegraf-drot' (windmill and telegraph-wire) — old and new technology — greet him. His 'trot... fun Nyu-York' (step from New York) dances on 'Ihumener vegn' (Ihumen roads) — America meeting Belarus. 'Nes hot getrofn' (a miracle has happened) — reaching all four directions, his face 'fentsterdik loykht' (shines like a window), body becomes 'toyerdik ofn' (open like a gate).
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