אין אַלע טירן זיך געריסן.
Torn at all doors.
Work 235 of 440
Page 287. 'Sako un Vanzetis mitvokh' continuation. The frantic attempt to stop execution: tearing at doors, biting steps, crumpling on thresholds. The bells ring but man lies 'mit aroysgeshtekter tsung' (with tongue stuck out) — hanged/electrocuted posture — in 'farlamevtn un vistn tser' (paralyzed and desolate pain). Countdown continues: ten, eleven — night bites a third tooth into the moon. The speaker smells 'hoyt fun opgesmalyetn' (skin of the singed one) — sensory horror of electrocution. The grotesque parenthetical: the 'tlyen-dzhentlmen' (hangman-gentleman) calmly writes the date in his little book, drinks coffee, and sings 'Amerika, land fun fraye, land fun brave' — the bitter irony of singing 'land of the free' while executing possibly innocent men. The moon's answer: 'sakone, sakone' (danger, danger) — the electric chair will murder.
אין אַלע טירן זיך געריסן.
אַלע טרעפּ געביסן.
געקנייטשט זיך אויף אַלע שוועלן.
אַ קלונג נאָך אַ קלונג נאָך אַ קלונג
אין די גלעקלעך פֿון גרעסטן און קלענסטן האַר,
און —
מענטש —
ליגן געבליבן מיט אַרויסגעשטעקטער צונג
אין פֿאַרלאַמעוועטן און וויסטן צער.
צען אַזייגער. — עלף אַזייגער.
אַ שעה נאָך איינע אין קאָ.
די נאַכט בײַסט אַרײַן
אַ דריטן צאָן
אין דעם לײַב פֿון דער לבֿנה.
און צו מײַנע נאָזלעכער
דערטראָגט אַ ריח זיך
פֿון הויט פֿון אָפּגעסמאַליעטן,
פֿאַרברענטן.
(תּליון־דזשענטלמען
נעמט אַרויס
זײַן פֿאַונטנפֿען,
און פֿאַרשרײַבט
אין ביכעלע
אַ דאַטום
nאָכן צענטן.
און נאָכדעם
טרינקט ער קאַווע,
און זינגט זיך אונטער:
— אַמעריקע,
לאַנד פֿון פֿרײַע,
לאַנד פֿון בראַווע — )
לבֿנה, לבֿנה,
וואָס טוט איצט אין תּפֿיסה דער וואָרדן?
די לבֿנה ענטפֿערט: סכּנה, סכּנה,
דער עלעקטרישער שטול וועט דערמאָרדן.
In ale tirn zikh gerisn.
Ale trep gebisn.
Gekneytsht zikh oyf ale shveln.
A klung nokh a klung nokh a klung
in di gleklekh fun grestn un klenstn har,
un —
mentsh —
lign geblibn mit aroysgeshtekter tsung
in farlamevn un vistn tser.
Tsen a zeyger. — Elf a zeyger.
A sho nokh eyne in ko.
Di nakht bayst arayn
a dritn tson
in dem layb fun der levone.
Un tsu mayne nozlekher
dertrogt a reakh zikh
fun hoyt fun opgesmalyetn,
farbrentn.
(Tlyen-dzhentlmen
nemt aroys
zayn fauntpen,
un farshraybt
in bikhele
a datum
nokhn tsentn.
Un nokhedem
trinkt er kave,
un zingt zikh unter:
— Amerike,
land fun fraye,
land fun brave — )
Levone, levone,
vos tut itst in tfise der vordn?
Di levone entfert: sakone, sakone,
der elektrishe shtul vet dermordn.
Torn at all doors.
Bitten all steps.
Crumpled on all thresholds.
A ring after a ring after a ring
in the bells of the greatest and smallest heart,
and —
man —
left lying with tongue stuck out
in paralyzed and desolate pain.
Ten o'clock. — Eleven o'clock.
One more hour in the queue.
The night bites in
a third tooth
into the body of the moon.
And to my nostrils
carries itself a smell
of the skin of the singed,
the burned.
(Hangman-gentleman
takes out
his fountain pen,
and writes down
in his little book
a date
after the tenth.
And afterward
he drinks coffee,
and sings to himself:
— America,
land of the free,
land of the brave — )
Moon, moon,
what is the warden doing now in prison?
The moon answers: danger, danger,
the electric chair will murder.
Page 287. 'Sako un Vanzetis mitvokh' continuation. The frantic attempt to stop execution: tearing at doors, biting steps, crumpling on thresholds. The bells ring but man lies 'mit aroysgeshtekter tsung' (with tongue stuck out) — hanged/electrocuted posture — in 'farlamevtn un vistn tser' (paralyzed and desolate pain). Countdown continues: ten, eleven — night bites a third tooth into the moon. The speaker smells 'hoyt fun opgesmalyetn' (skin of the singed one) — sensory horror of electrocution. The grotesque parenthetical: the 'tlyen-dzhentlmen' (hangman-gentleman) calmly writes the date in his little book, drinks coffee, and sings 'Amerika, land fun fraye, land fun brave' — the bitter irony of singing 'land of the free' while executing possibly innocent men. The moon's answer: 'sakone, sakone' (danger, danger) — the electric chair will murder.
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