Grine Kuzine

Green Kuzine

Tsu mir iz gekumen a kuzine

Sheyn vi gold iz zi geven, di grine

Bekelakh vi royte pomerantsn

Fiselakh vos betn zich tsum tantsn.

Herelakh vi zaydn-veb gelokte

Tseyndelekh vi perelakh getokte

Eygelakh vi himl-bloy in friling

Lipelekh vi karshelekh a tsviling.

Nisht gegangen iz zi, nor geshprungen

Nisht geret hot zi, nor gezungen

Lebedik un freylekh yede mine -

Ot aza geven iz mayn kuzine.

Un azoy ariber tseyner yorn

Fun mayn kuzine iz a tel gevorn

"Peides" hot zi vokhenlang geklibn

Biz fun ir iz gornisht nit geblibn.

Haynt az ikh bagegen mayn kuzine

Un ikh freg ir: S'makhtsu epes, Grine?

Ziftst zi op, un kh'leyen in ir mine:

Brenen zol Colombus' es medine!

עס איז צו מיר געקומען א קוזינע
שײן װי גאָלד איז זי געװען, די גרינע,
די בעקעלעך װי רױטע פּאָמעראַנצן,
פֿיסעלעך װאָס בעטן זיך צום טאַנצן.

ניט געגאַנגען איז זי — נאָר געשפּרונגען,
ניט גערעדט האָט זי, נאָר געזונגען,
פֿרײלעך, לוסטיק איז געװען איר מינע,
אָט אַזאַ געװען איז מײַן קוזינע.

איך בין אַרײַן צו מײַן „נעקסט-דאָרקע”
װאָס זי האָט א „מילינערי-סטאָרקע”,
א „דזשאַב” געקראָגן האָב איך פֿאַר מײַן קוזינע,
אַז לעבן זאָל די גאַלדענע מדינה!

אַװעק זײַנען פֿון דעמאָלט אָן שױן יאָרן,
פֿון מײַן קוזינע איז א תּל געװאָרן,
„פּײדעס” יאָרן לאַנג האָט זי געקליבן,
ביז פֿון איר אלײן איז נישט געבליבן.

אונטער אירע בלױע שײנע אױגן
שװאַרצע פּאַסן האָבן זיך פֿאַרצױגן,
די בעקעלעך, די רױטע פּאַמעראַנצן,
האָבן זיך שױן אױסגעגרינט אין גאַנצן.

הײַנט, אַז איך באַגעגן מײַן קוזינעץ
און איך פֿרעג זי: — װאָס זשע מאַכסטו, גרינע?
ענטפֿערט זי מיר מיט אַ קרומער מינע:
— אַז ברענען זאָל קאַלאַמבוסעס מדינה! 

A Pretty cousin came to me. Her cheeks were like red oranges, her feet just begging for a dance, her air was gay and lively. This is how my cousin looked when she was still “green.” Praised be the golden land! Many years passed and my cousin became worn-out at her job. Below her pretty blue eyes she now has black lines. And her cheeks, once like red oranges, have lost their glow. Today when I meet my cousin and ask: “How are you, green one?” she answers: “May the blazes take Columbus’ land!”

Song Title: Di Grine Kuzine

Composer: A. Schwartz

Composer’s Yiddish Name: אײב שװאַרץ

Lyricist: J. Leiserowitz

Lyricist’s Yiddish Name: יעקבֿ לײזעראָװיץ

Time Period: 20th century

Unter Dayne Vayse Shterne

Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern (Under Your White Stars)

Lyrics: Abraham Sutzkever 

Music: Abraham Budno

Yiddish Lyrics

Unter dayne vayse shtern
Shtrek tsu mir dayn vayse hant
Mayne verter zaynen trern
viln ruen in dayn hant

Ze, es tunklt zeyer finkl
In mayn kelerdikn blik
Un ikh hob gornit kayn vinkl
Zey tsu shenken dir tsurik

Un ikh vil dokh, got getrayer
Dir fartroyen mayn farmg
Vayl es mogt in mir a fayer
Un in fayer mayne teg

Nor in kelern un lekher
Veynt di merderishe ru
Loyf ikh hekher, iber dekher
Un ikh zukh, vu bistu, vu?

Nemen yogn mikh meshune
Trep un hoyfn mit gevoy
Heng ikh a geplatste strune
Un ikh zing tsu dir azoy

Unter dayne vayse shtern
Shtrek tsu mir dayn vayse hant
Mayne verter zaynen trern
Viln ruen in dayn hant

Translation

Under Your white stars
Extend Your white hand to me
My words are tears
Which want to rest in Your hand

See how they've lost their gleam
from the vantage of my cellar -
and I haven't even a corner 

in which to pray.

And yet I want, my dear God
to entrust in You all I have
for a fire burns inside me
and the fire consumes my days.

Only in cellars and pits
can I find my torturous rest
So, I run across the rooftops
looking for You. Where are You?

I am chased by evil spirits.
They goad me on stairways and in courtyards
I hand a broken violin string
and that's how I sing to You:

Under Your white stars
extend Your white hand to me
My words are tears
which want to rest in Your hand

Listen at:

https://www.milkenarchive.org/music/volumes/view/the-art-of-jewish-song/work/unter-dayne-vayse-shtern/

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Notes: clip here from Mandy Patinkin's CD Mamaloshen *Note: (from Mlotek and other sources) This song was written in the Vilno ghetto, words by Avraham Sutskever (1913-); music by Abraham Brudno (?-1944). It was first presented in the ghetto theater in the play " Di Yogenish in Fas" (the hunt in the barrel, a pun on Diogenes in a barrel.) It was first sung by Zlate Katcherginsky. After the liquidation of the ghetto, Suskever joined the partisan fighters. He survived the war and lives in Israel where he edits the literary quarterly "Di Goldene Keyt". The composer, Abraham Brudno, following the liquidation of the ghetto, was deported to a German concentration camp in Estonia, where he died.

Here is another note about this song from the Milken Archive:

Avraham Sutskever is believed to have written this poem in the Vilna Ghetto, where it was originally set to a haunting melody by Abraham Brudno and sung there by Zlate Katcherginsky in a theatrical production of the play Di yogn in fas (The Hunt in the Barrel—a parody of Diogenes in a barrel). After the liquidation of the ghetto, Sutskever joined the partisan fighters and survived the Holocaust. Brudno was deported to a German concentration camp in Estonia, where he was murdered in 1943 or 1944. His version, however, is entirely unrelated to Weiner’s song.

By: Yehudi Wyner

Link to Unter Dayne Vayse Shtern

 https://yiddishsongs.org/unter-dayne-vayse-shtern/

Under your white starry heaven
Offer me your pale white hand.
All my words are flowing teardrops.
I would place them in your hand.
Gone the luster from their brightness,
Seen through morbid cellar view –
And I no longer have my own space
To reflect them back to you.

My devoted God I offer
Everything that I possess.
As the fire that I suffer
Fills each fiery day I pass.
Only in the holes and cellars
With deadly rest my days I share.
I run higher – over spire
Searching where are you, oh where?

I am chased by phantom beings
Stairs and courtyards goad me too.
There I hang a broken bowstring –
And I sing once more to you:
Under your white starry heaven
Offer me your pale white hand.
All my words are flowing teardrops,
I would place them in your hand.

Unter dayne vayse shtern
Shtrek tsu mir dayn vayse hant.
Mayne verter zaynen trern
Viln ruen in dayn hant.
Ze, es tunklt zeyer finkl
In mayn kelerdikn blik.
Un ikh hob gornit keyn vinkl
Zey tsu shenken dir tsurik.

Un ikh vii dokh, got getrayer,
Dir fartroyen mayn farmeg.
Vayl es mont in mir a fayer
Un in fayer — mayne teg.
Nor in kelern un lekher
Veynt di merderishe ru.
Loyf ikh hekher, iber dekher
Un ikh zukh: vu bistu, vu?

Nemen yogn mikh meshune
Trep un hoyfn mit gevoy.
Heng ikh — a geplatste strune
Un ikh zing tsu dir azoy:
Unter dayne vayse shtern
Shtrek tsu mir dayn vayse hant.
Mayne verter zaynen trern
Viln ruen in dayn hant.

אונטער דײַנע װײַסע שטערן
שטרעק צו מיר דײַן װײַסע האַנט.
מײַנע װערטער זײַנען טרערן
װילן רוען אין דײַן האַנט.
זע, עס טונקלט זײער פֿינקל
אין מײַן קעלערדיקן בליק,
און איך האָב גאָרניט קײן װינקל
זײ צו שענקען דיר צוריק.

און איך װיל דאָך, גאָט געטרײַער,
דיר פֿאַרטרױען מײַן פֿאַרמעג.
װײַל עס מאָנט אין מיר אַ פֿײַער,
און אין פֿײַער — מײַנע טעג.
נאָר אין קעלערן און לעכער
װײנט די מערדערישע רו.
לױף איך העכער, איבער דעכער
און איך זוך: װוּ ביסטו, װוּ?

נעמען יאָגן מיך משונה
טרעפּ און הױפֿן מיט געװױ.
הענג איך — אַ געפּלאַצטע סטרונע
און איך זינג צו דיר אַזױ:
אונטער דײַנע װײַסע שטערן
שטרעק צו מיר דײַן װײַסע האַנט.
מײַנע װערטער זײַנען טרערן
װילן רוען אין דײַן האַנט.

https://yiddishsongs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/18-Unter-Dayne-Vayse-Shtern.pdf

SongwrittenintheVilnoghettobyAbrahamSutskever(1913 ),awell-knownpoetbeforethewar.Itwasfirstpresented in the play Di Yogenish in Fas in the ghetto theatre. After the liquidation of the ghetto, Sutskever jotned the partisan fighters. He survived the war and lives in Israel where he edits the literary quarterly Di Goldene Keyt. Music is by Abraham Brudno (See Friling).

MORE ABOUT JOAN'S YIDDISH BLOG

Some notes about this blog:   

I'm happy for others to visit this blog, but I mainly made it so I could find this material easily myself.  

I hope the links work; if I find any that do not maybe I'll take them down. 

I'm still working on some "navigation" issues.  At times you may need to re-enter the URL -- JoansYiddishBlog.blogspot.com.    So if you would like to explore this blog,  please keep this link where you can find it!  

Anything here by by Khane-Faygl Turteletaub is copyrighted by her, belongs to her estate, and all rights reserved. 

Any material here written by others belongs to them as well.  

I apologize that so many of these posts are in Latin letters, and not Yiddish ones.  I've yet to find a manageable way to do this in Blogger!  

Also there is some duplication that needs to be addressed!

Where I could find material already available in Yiddish letters I made screenshots; otherwise transliteration must suffice. 

                                                                   ###

Verse 4 of this Land is Your Land in Yiddish

Ikh ze a groysn moyer mit a shild vos varnt, vil men araynet, shteyt az me' tor nit, nor aoyf yener zayt, dortn gornit, Ot iz di land far mir un dir.

ikh bin a border bay mayn vayb

All Songs / Miscellaneous ikh bin a boarder bay mayn vayb Composer: Rubin Doctor (1882- ca.1940) Yiddish Lyrics Ikh bin shoyn vider “singl,” punkt zoy vi a yingl,
mit mayn vaybl hob ikh zikh geget. Gedenkt hob ikh tsu “mufn,” a “room” gezukht tsu shlofn, Hot man vaybl mich ibergeredt: Vos darftstu zukhn glikn, in fremde "rums" zikh shtikn,
un zayn aleyn un redn tsu di vent. Blayb do iber punkt vi frier, zay a "border" yetst bay mir.
Vi a fremder tsol ikh ir dem rent. Ikh bin a "border" bay mayn vayb, oy gut, oy voyl, oy gut, mener, iz dos a tayrer "dzhab", Oy gut, oy voyl, oy gut. Zi attendet mika mit ales, Ven ikh kum fregt zi keyn shayles, ikh bin a "border" bay mayn vayb. Ikh zog aykh yetst oysdriklekh, az ikh fil zikh zeyer gliklekh, beser als a "border" eyder man. Ikh darf mayn vayb nit hitn, un onkumen in mitn, ven der "butsher" brengt dos fleysh arayn. Ikh bin gants fray fun zorgn, ikh darf nit layen, borgn,
 nit arbetn un brengen ir dos gelt. Nor zayt ikh bin in "bord" bay ir, iz mir gut gor on a shir,
 ikh es un trink nor un ikh bren a velt. Es iz a fargenign, ales ken ikh krign,
 vi a fremder "border" bay mayn vayb.
 Ikh bin gornit keyn griner, un yedn tog nokh "diner"
 leyg ikh zikh tsu azoy tsum tsayt-fartrayb. Oy, frier flegt zi mir sheltn, un iberkern veltn, gor mit a fremdn "border" in mayn shtib, nor zayt ikh bin in "bord" bay ir, iz zi azoy gut tsu mir, es kost mir bilik un zi hot mikh lib. Added online December 2001 Find this also at: https://yiddishsongs.org/ikh-bin-a-border-bay-mayn-vayb/ Here is a translation from https://www.milkenarchive.org/music/volumes/view/great-songs-of-the-american-yiddish-stage/work/ikh-bin-a-boarder-bay-mayn-vayb/ Lyrics by Reuben Doctor I’m a boarder at my wife’s. Guys, it’s a sweet deal. She attends to my every need. When I come home, she doesn’t ask any questions. I am a boarder at my wife’s. I’m single once again, single like a young boy. I’ve divorced my wife. I thought about moving out, I looked for a room to lodge, but my wife persuaded me: “Why do you need to look for bargains And be cramped in strange rooms, And be alone and talk to the walls. Stay here just like before. Be a boarder now with me.” So like a boarder, I pay her rent. I’m a boarder at my wife’s. It’s so nice, so good. Guys, it’s a sweet deal. She attends to my every need. When I come home, she doesn’t ask any questions. I am a boarder at my wife’s. It’s a pleasure; I can get it all as a stranger boarding at my wife’s. I’m no greenhorn, and every day, after dinner, I lie down, just to pass the time Oh, earlier she used to curse me and make a big hullabaloo, Even when there was a stranger boarding in my house. But ever since I became a boarder at her place, she is so good to me. It costs me little, and she loves me.