I AND THE WORLD BY AVRUM REISEN

ikh un di velt fun Avrom Reisen

ven di gantse velt volt laydn,

mir aleyn zol gut zayn bloiz,

volt ikh dan di velt di gantse,

ayngeladn in mayn hoyz

ikh volt treystn zi un tsertlen,

un gezogt: nit zorg zikh velt,

biz zi volt tsu dikh gekumen

un zikh oykh di fis geshtelt.

ven di velt geven volt gliklekh,

ikh aleyn bloiz ful mit leyd,

volt ikh dan tsu ir gekumen

un gefodert: gib mir freyd!

ober az mir beyde laydn --

say di velt, say ikh aleyn,

hot di velt nit vu tsu kumen

un ikh hob nit vu tsu geyn.

(Transliteration by JDL)

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If things were bad with all the world

and things were good for me alone,

I’d surely then invite the world

to share the comforts of my home.

I’d comfort it, give my caress,

and say: “Don’t worry so, dear world,”

until it slowly came around

and stood up straight upon the ground.

If all the world were happy now

and only I were full of pain,

I’d come to it and make demand:

“Now you must make me whole again.”

But things are bad for both of us —

the world’s in pain and I too now.

The world has no one who can help,

nor is there one to show me how.

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Source: Mlotek & Mlotek, Pearls of Yiddish Poetry pp. 110-112

By Avrum Reisen, 1876 Minsk-1953 New York.

I posted this to keep it handy. The translation above is from the Mlotek's book Pearls of Yiddish Poetry (which I highly recommend).  The original is in Yiddish osyes, but I was not able to reproduce these here so the transliteration is mine.  

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