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לידער צו אַ ווײַטן פֿרײַנט

Songs to a Distant Friend

Work 279 of 440

Page 335. Section title page: 'Lider tsu a vaytn fraynt' (Songs to a Distant Friend). This cycle, written in 1929-1930, is addressed to an unnamed distant correspondent — possibly a friend or lover in the Soviet Union, or an allegorical figure representing the homeland itself. The poems explore themes of longing, separation, and the impossibility of true communication across ideological and geographical divides.

Yiddish Original

לידער צו אַ ווײַטן פֿרײַנט

Transliteration

Lider tsu a vaytn fraynt

English Translation

Songs to a Distant Friend

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

Page 335. Section title page: 'Lider tsu a vaytn fraynt' (Songs to a Distant Friend). This cycle, written in 1929-1930, is addressed to an unnamed distant correspondent — possibly a friend or lover in the Soviet Union, or an allegorical figure representing the homeland itself. The poems explore themes of longing, separation, and the impossibility of true communication across ideological and geographical divides.

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Songs to a Distant Friend · H. Leivick: Complete Works · Half-Voll Attempts