— „אַז ער׳ט ווערן נאָר גרויס —
— "When he just gets big —" Alfred (chop axe! chop axe!)
Work 223 of 440
Page 274. 'Mamzer Alfred' conclusion: the violent climax — Alfred chops wood obsessively, Bishop gloats about what he'll do when Alfred grows up, the dog Prince devours the dying bird. The 'royte fintsternish' (red darkness) suggests blood. Then begins 'Hirsh Lekert' — Hirsh Lekert (1879-1902) was a Jewish cobbler and Bundist who shot the Vilna governor Von Wahl in retaliation for flogging Jewish workers; he was hanged. Leivick, himself a political prisoner who escaped Siberian exile, identified deeply with Lekert. The poem celebrates Lekert as martyr whose hands 'aleyn oyf zikh aroyfgevorfn di tliye' (themselves threw upon themselves the gallows) — embracing execution. The 'heyliker shtrik' (holy rope) sacralizes the noose. The speaker's own neck 'benkt, vos rayst zikh hengen' (yearns, strains to hang) — identification with revolutionary martyrdom.
— „אַז ער׳ט ווערן נאָר גרויס —
— „Az er't vern nor groys —" Alfred (shpalt hak! shpalt hak!)
„vet er — — — Yezus, a Yezus, ven vet er shoyn oysvaksn!"
Fintsternish in beyde oygn — (shpalt hak! shpalt hak!)
Royte fintsternish oyf der ovntiker erd.
S'hintl Prints hot shoyn avekgekhapt dem guses-foygl,
avekgekrokhn tsum tsehaktn kukuruze-feld,
dortn ligt er zikh a freydiker, un khramshtshtshet
zayn zise seude oyf der ovntiker erd.
Ale heltser lign shoyn tseshpaltene.
September-vint. Kalte hak. Nakht. Nakht.
Levone rukt aroys a shpits tsung. Levone lekt
dem hunts simkhes oyf der ovntiker erd.
Hirsh Lekert
Der levones ponim iz groys un royt,
un dos shifl unter mayne vesles iz gehorkzam, boygik:
a gantsn tog hob ikh getrakht vegn Lekerts toyt,
iz di levone bazunders haynt ful-pnimdik, oygik.
Fargangene yorn, vi di valdike vent,
a shvaygenish varfn zey oyf mayn haldz un fartsien:
a gantsn tog hob ikh getrakht vegn Lekerts hent,
vos hobn aleyn oyf zikh aroyfgevorfn di tliye.
Azoy hob ikh baytog gezungen vegn dem:
„Ikh veys nit ven, nor ikh veys, az s'vet kumen
a sho aza, vos vet zogn tsu yedn eynem: nem
aza baginen zikh, vi Lekert hot genumen."
Vigt zikh, vesles mayne, ahin un tsurik,
heyse vintn ayln nokht tsu brengen:
zing nokhamol, nokhamol tsu der heyliker shtrik,
un tsum haldz, vos benkt, vos rayst zikh hengen.
— "When he just gets big —" Alfred (chop axe! chop axe!)
"he will — — — Jesus, a Jesus, when will he finally grow up!"
Darkness in both eyes — (chop axe! chop axe!)
Red darkness on the evening earth.
The little dog Prince has already snatched the dying bird,
crawled away to the chopped cornfield,
there he lies content, and crunches
his sweet feast on the evening earth.
All the logs lie already split.
September wind. Cold axe. Night. Night.
Moon sticks out a pointed tongue. Moon licks
the dog's joys on the evening earth.
Hirsh Lekert
The moon's face is large and red,
and the little boat under my oars is obedient, pliant:
all day I have thought about Lekert's death,
so the moon is especially tonight full-faced, eyed.
Past years, like the forested walls,
a silence they throw on my neck and tighten:
all day I have thought about Lekert's hands,
which themselves threw upon themselves the gallows.
Thus I sang by day about this:
"I know not when, but I know that there will come
such an hour that will say to everyone: take
such a beginning, as Lekert took."
Rock, my oars, back and forth,
hot winds hurry to bring night:
sing once more, once more to the holy rope,
and to the neck that yearns, that strains to hang.
Page 274. 'Mamzer Alfred' conclusion: the violent climax — Alfred chops wood obsessively, Bishop gloats about what he'll do when Alfred grows up, the dog Prince devours the dying bird. The 'royte fintsternish' (red darkness) suggests blood. Then begins 'Hirsh Lekert' — Hirsh Lekert (1879-1902) was a Jewish cobbler and Bundist who shot the Vilna governor Von Wahl in retaliation for flogging Jewish workers; he was hanged. Leivick, himself a political prisoner who escaped Siberian exile, identified deeply with Lekert. The poem celebrates Lekert as martyr whose hands 'aleyn oyf zikh aroyfgevorfn di tliye' (themselves threw upon themselves the gallows) — embracing execution. The 'heyliker shtrik' (holy rope) sacralizes the noose. The speaker's own neck 'benkt, vos rayst zikh hengen' (yearns, strains to hang) — identification with revolutionary martyrdom.
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