די נאָכט די זי
The night, the she
Work 195 of 440
Page 238. 'Lider fun Umkum' poem KHAF conclusion and poem KHAF-ALEF, 'Nit parad un nit yontev' (Neither Parade Nor Holiday). Poem KHAF concludes: the night 'bewails like a wife until bright morning the ascetic body.' New poem: Over streets — 'camps, camps in the cold blossoming dawn.' What holiday? For whom parades? 'On lips — no name, in eyes — no form: in hearts — blind waiting.' A voice is heard: 'People, I want to open my life for you.' Crowds search — 'Where is he, the one who wants to open his life for us?' The voice continues: 'I want to open for you the song of four deaths, inherited from father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather.' The four traditional Jewish court deaths (arba mitot beit din): stoning (skile), burning (srefe), strangling (khenek), slaying by sword (hereg). 'And finally the song of the fifth death' — the new death beyond tradition.
די נאָכט די זי
באַקלאָגט ווי אַ ווײַב
ביז ליכטיקן פֿרי
דאָס אַסקעטישע לײַב.
ניט פּאַראַד און ניט יום־טובֿ
איבער גאַסן, איבער ראַנדן —
מחנות, מחנות,
אינעם קאַלטן צעבליטן פֿאַרטאָג.
וואָס פֿאַר אַ יום־טובֿ וועט זײַן?
פֿאַר וועמען פּאַראַדן?
מען הערט ניט קיין אויסגעשריי, קיין אויסרופֿ,
אויף ליפּן — קיין נאָמען,
אין אויגן — קיין געשטאַלט:
אין הערצער — בלינדע דערוואַרטונג.
ניט פּאַראַד און ניט יום־טובֿ
אין קאַלטן צעבליטן פֿאַרטאָג.
אין בלינדער דערוואַרטונג
דערהערט מען אַ קול:
„מענטשן, כ'וויל עפֿענען מײַן לעבן פֿאַר אײַך.
Di nokht di zi
baklogt vi a vayb
biz likhtikn fri
dos asketishe layb.
Nit parad un nit yontev
Iber gasn, iber randn —
makhаnоs, makhаnоs,
inem kaltn tseblitn fartog.
Vos far a yontev vet zayn?
Far vemen parаdn?
Men hert nit keyn oysgeshrey, keyn oysruf,
oyf lipn — keyn nomen,
in oygn — keyn geshtalt:
in hertser — blinde dervartung.
Nit parad un nit yontev
in kaltn tseblitn fartog.
In blinder dervartung
derhert men a kol:
„Mentshn, kh'vil efenen mayn lebn far aykh.
The night, the she
bewails like a wife
until bright morning
the ascetic body.
Neither Parade Nor Holiday
Over streets, over edges —
camps, camps,
in the cold blossoming dawn.
What kind of holiday will it be?
For whom parades?
One hears no outcry, no call,
on lips — no name,
in eyes — no form:
in hearts — blind waiting.
Neither parade nor holiday
in the cold blossoming dawn.
In blind waiting
one hears a voice:
'People, I want to open my life for you.'
Eyes search — who?
Heads upon heads.
Curiosity and wonder.
— 'Where is he —
the one who wants to open his life for us?'
In blind waiting — again:
— 'People,
I want to open for you the song of four deaths,
which I inherited from my father, from my grandfather,
from my great-grandfather, from my great-great-grandfather;
the song of stoning and the song of burning,
the song of strangling and the song of slaying,
and finally the song of the fifth death,
Page 238. 'Lider fun Umkum' poem KHAF conclusion and poem KHAF-ALEF, 'Nit parad un nit yontev' (Neither Parade Nor Holiday). Poem KHAF concludes: the night 'bewails like a wife until bright morning the ascetic body.' New poem: Over streets — 'camps, camps in the cold blossoming dawn.' What holiday? For whom parades? 'On lips — no name, in eyes — no form: in hearts — blind waiting.' A voice is heard: 'People, I want to open my life for you.' Crowds search — 'Where is he, the one who wants to open his life for us?' The voice continues: 'I want to open for you the song of four deaths, inherited from father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather.' The four traditional Jewish court deaths (arba mitot beit din): stoning (skile), burning (srefe), strangling (khenek), slaying by sword (hereg). 'And finally the song of the fifth death' — the new death beyond tradition.
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