XI
XI
Work 259 of 440
Page 314. 'Ihumen' section XI conclusion. 'Vinterdike toyen' (winter thaws) — moments of warming. One must be 'mit zikh in fuler frid' (with oneself in full peace), trusting oneself to the 'lid' (song). The song is compared to 'mayn hirsh mit plonterndike herner' (my deer with tangling antlers), 'tsu lang... dem vildn vald fartrout' (too long trusted to the wild forest). 'Royte oysgeshryen fun dayn hoyt' (red cries from your skin) — the bloody wounds of poetry, the sacrificed deer. The speaker admits he watched 'in galer sine' (in bald hatred) his song's destruction, hurled 'brokh' (curses) at it. The closing: 'modne mir tsu onkumen tsu erter / vu khaloymes zaynen elter fun der vor' (strange for me to arrive at places where dreams are older than truth) — the shtetl where memory transcends reality. Stranger still to find words 'far mayn lebn, vos iz alt shoyn fertsik yor' (for my life, already forty years old) — Leivick was born 1888, was 37 in 1925, but 'fertsik' (forty) here represents the fullness of a life.
XI
אין אַזוינע טעג פֿון ווינטערדיקע טויען
דאַרף מען זײַן מיט זיך אין פֿולער פֿריד,
טרײַ, ווי לײַב צו לײַב, אַזוי פֿאַרטרויען
זיך אין אָפֿנקייט צו דיר, מײַן ליד.
ליד — מײַן הירש מיט פּלאָנטערנדיקע הערנער,
צו לאַנג דיך דעם ווילדן וואַלד פֿאַרטרויט. —
איז אַ וואונדער דען, וואָס איבער אַלע דערנער
הענגען רויטע אויסגעשרייען פֿון דײַן הויט.
ווי האָב איך אַליין אין גאַלער שׂנאה
צוגעזען דײַן אומקומען אין טויטן מאָך — —
און צו דײַנע קנעכלעך שלאַנקע, דינע
צוגעשלײַדערט נאָך און נאָך אַ בראָך.
אַזוי מאָדנע מיר צו אָנקומען צו ערטער,
וואו חלומות זײַנען עלטער פֿון דער וואָר,
און נאָך מאָדנער צו געפֿינען ווערטער
פֿאַר מײַן לעבן, וואָס איז אַלט שוין פֿערציק יאָר.
XI
In azoyne teg fun vinterdike toyen
darf men zayn mit zikh in fuler frid,
tray, vi layb tsu layb, azoy fartroen
zikh in ofenkayt tsu dir, mayn lid.
Lid — mayn hirsh mit plonterndike herner,
tsu lang dikh dem vildn vald fartrout. —
iz a vunder den, vos iber ale derner
hengn royte oysgeshryen fun dayn hoyt.
Vi hob ikh aleyn in galer sine
tsugezeyen dayn umkumen in totn mokh — —
un tsu dayne knekhlek shlanke, dine
tsugeshlydert nokh un nokh a brokh.
Azoy modne mir tsu onkumen tsu erter,
vu khaloymes zaynen elter fun der vor,
un nokh modner tsu gefinen verter
far mayn lebn, vos iz alt shoyn fertsik yor.
XI
In such days of winter thaws
one must be with oneself in full peace,
faithful, as body to body, so trust
oneself in openness to you, my song.
Song — my deer with tangling antlers,
too long trusted to the wild forest. —
Is it a wonder then that over all the thorns
hang red cries from your skin.
How have I myself in bald hatred
watched your perishing in dead moss — —
and to your ankles slender, thin
hurled again and again a curse.
So strange for me to arrive at places,
where dreams are older than the truth,
and stranger still to find words
for my life, which is already forty years old.
Page 314. 'Ihumen' section XI conclusion. 'Vinterdike toyen' (winter thaws) — moments of warming. One must be 'mit zikh in fuler frid' (with oneself in full peace), trusting oneself to the 'lid' (song). The song is compared to 'mayn hirsh mit plonterndike herner' (my deer with tangling antlers), 'tsu lang... dem vildn vald fartrout' (too long trusted to the wild forest). 'Royte oysgeshryen fun dayn hoyt' (red cries from your skin) — the bloody wounds of poetry, the sacrificed deer. The speaker admits he watched 'in galer sine' (in bald hatred) his song's destruction, hurled 'brokh' (curses) at it. The closing: 'modne mir tsu onkumen tsu erter / vu khaloymes zaynen elter fun der vor' (strange for me to arrive at places where dreams are older than truth) — the shtetl where memory transcends reality. Stranger still to find words 'far mayn lebn, vos iz alt shoyn fertsik yor' (for my life, already forty years old) — Leivick was born 1888, was 37 in 1925, but 'fertsik' (forty) here represents the fullness of a life.
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