איך בין שעמעוודיק אין אָנגעזיכט פֿון פֿרייד,
I am bashful in the face of joy,
Work 255 of 440
Page 310. 'Ihumen' sections V (continuation) and VI. The speaker is 'shemevdik' (bashful) before 'freyd' (joy), like a 'khosn' (groom) seeing his 'kale' (bride) for the first time — the emigrant overcome by homecoming. He addresses joy as 'shvester... vayse' (sister, white one). He must recover from 'farshemtkayt' (bashfulness) to find words for the story of the 'gesl' (alley) and 'shtetl' that was once called 'I-hu-me-n' — the name broken into syllables, savored. 'Amol. Amol. Amol.' (Once. Once. Once.) — thrice-repeated nostalgia. Joy is invited to sit on the 'vayser bank' (white bench), to rock 'in der shayn fun lempl' (in the lamplight). Section VI: 'Shtile farshneyte farnakhtn' (quiet snow-covered evenings), 'fridn der knoyt' (the wick of peace) rises. The heart 'yungt zikh' (grows young) under the shtetl's peace. 'Kislevdiker himl' — the sky of the Hebrew month Kislev (November-December), placing the visit in late autumn/early winter 1925. The 'amoliker fraynt' (friend from long ago) cannot stay in its 'amolikayt' (long-ago-ness).
איך בין שעמעוודיק אין אָנגעזיכט פֿון פֿרייד,
ווי אַ חתן, וואָס דערזעט צום ערשטן מאָל זײַן כּלה.
זעץ זיך, פֿרייד, מײַן טײַערע,
שוועסטער מײַנע, ווײַסע,
ביז איך וועל צו זיך פֿון מײַן פֿאַרשעמטקייט קומען
און געפֿינען ווײַטער ווערטער פֿאַר מײַן מעשׂה
פֿון אַ געסל,
פֿון אַ שטעטל,
וואָס אַמאָל האָט עס גערופֿן זיך:
אי
הו
מע
ן.
אַמאָל. | אַמאָל. | אַמאָל.
— זעץ זיך, פֿרייד, מײַן טײַערע,
אויף דער ברייטער באַנק,
אויף דער ווײַסער באַנק,
אָט אַזוי, אָט אַזוי —
אויף דער נײַער באַנק:
אין דער שײַן פֿון לעמפּל
וועלן מיר זיך וויגן —
אָט אַזוי, אָט אַזוי —
אויף דער ווײַסער באַנק.
VI
שטילע פֿאַרשנייטע פֿאַרנאַכטן
ווערן נאָך שטילער פֿאַרשנייט,
דאָ אין דײַן שטיבל פֿאַרמאַכטן
גייט אויף פֿון פֿרידן דער קנויט.
ביז צו די טרעפּ פֿון דײַן שטיבל
ווען, ווי אַזוי קום איך צו? —
האַרץ מײַנס פֿון אַלטן פֿאַרײַבל
יונגט זיך אונטער דײַן רו.
כּסלװדיקער הימל אין שייבל —
ליבער אַמאָליקער פֿרײַנט!
קענסט שוין, איך זע, מער ניט בלײַבן
אין דײַן אַמאָליקייט הײַנט.
Ikh bin shemevdik in onezikht fun freyd,
vi a khosn, vos derzet tsum ershtn mol zayn kale.
Zets zikh, freyd, mayn tayere,
shvester mayne, vayse,
biz ikh vel tsu zikh fun mayn farshemtkayt kumen
un gefinen vayter verter far mayn mayse
fun a gesl,
fun a shtetl,
vos amol hot es gerufn zikh:
I
hu
me
n.
Amol. | Amol. | Amol.
— Zets zikh, freyd, mayn tayere,
oyf der breyter bank,
oyf der vayser bank,
ot azoy, ot azoy —
oyf der nayer bank:
in der shayn fun lempl
veln mir zikh vign —
ot azoy, ot azoy —
oyf der vayser bank.
VI
Shtile farshneyte farnakhtn
vern nokh shtiler farshneyt,
do in dayn shtibl farmakhtn
geyt oyf fun fridn der knoyt.
Biz tsu di trep fun dayn shtibl
ven, vi azoy kum ikh tsu? —
harts mayns fun altn faraybl
yungt zikh unter dayn ru.
Kislevdiker himl in shaybl —
liber amoliker fraynt!
Kenst shoyn, ikh ze, mer nit blaybn
in dayn amolikayt haynt.
I am bashful in the face of joy,
like a groom who sees his bride for the first time.
Sit down, joy, my dear one,
my sister, white one,
until I come to myself from my bashfulness
and find further words for my story
of an alley,
of a shtetl,
that once called itself:
I
hu
me
n.
Once. | Once. | Once.
— Sit down, joy, my dear one,
on the wide bench,
on the white bench,
just so, just so —
on the new bench:
in the glow of the little lamp
we shall rock —
just so, just so —
on the white bench.
VI
Quiet snow-covered evenings
become even quieter with snow,
here in your closed little cottage
the wick of peace rises.
To the stairs of your little cottage
when, how do I arrive? —
My heart from the old bitterness
grows young under your rest.
Kislev sky in the windowpane —
dear friend from long ago!
You can no longer stay, I see,
in your long-ago-ness today.
Page 310. 'Ihumen' sections V (continuation) and VI. The speaker is 'shemevdik' (bashful) before 'freyd' (joy), like a 'khosn' (groom) seeing his 'kale' (bride) for the first time — the emigrant overcome by homecoming. He addresses joy as 'shvester... vayse' (sister, white one). He must recover from 'farshemtkayt' (bashfulness) to find words for the story of the 'gesl' (alley) and 'shtetl' that was once called 'I-hu-me-n' — the name broken into syllables, savored. 'Amol. Amol. Amol.' (Once. Once. Once.) — thrice-repeated nostalgia. Joy is invited to sit on the 'vayser bank' (white bench), to rock 'in der shayn fun lempl' (in the lamplight). Section VI: 'Shtile farshneyte farnakhtn' (quiet snow-covered evenings), 'fridn der knoyt' (the wick of peace) rises. The heart 'yungt zikh' (grows young) under the shtetl's peace. 'Kislevdiker himl' — the sky of the Hebrew month Kislev (November-December), placing the visit in late autumn/early winter 1925. The 'amoliker fraynt' (friend from long ago) cannot stay in its 'amolikayt' (long-ago-ness).
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