© by
Leibu Levin (1914 - 1983)
Mayn heylike kamee
Language: Yiddish (יידיש)
Available translation(s): ENG
Kh'hob mitgenumen mir in veg --
in vaytn veg, in shvern veg --
un durkhegshmuglt in der fremd
a heylike kamee --
dos tsigele, dos vaysinke,
fun vigele, fun maysele,
der mames yidish lidele
in freydn un in veyen.
Un yorn lang in shtume leyd
hob ikh gefilt zayn dekh, zayn treyst.
mayn harts hot moyredik geklemt,
me zol, kholile, es nisht fartsikn --
dos tsigele, dos vaysinke,
fun vigele, fun maysele,
der mames yidish lidele,
vos vart alts oyf zayn tikn.
Dervayl z'fargangen yor nokh yor,
kh'bin in der heym shoyn oyf der vor
un loz do hern oyf a kol
mayn oytser, mayn kamee --
dos tsigele, dos vaysinke,
fun vigele, fun maysele,
der mames yidish lidele,
vos freyt un vet derfreyen.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Hadassah Haskale) , title 1: "My sacred cameo", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ruth Levin
This text was added to the website: 2007-09-22
Line count: 24
Word count: 119
My sacred cameo
Language: English  after the Yiddish (יידיש)
As I set forth upon my way --
A long way, a hard way --
I smuggled out through foreign lands
A sacred cameo --
The little kid, the whitest one,
From the cradle, from the folk tale,
The mama's Yiddish melody
In pain and in rejoicing.
And through the years of wildest grief
I've felt its comfort and its breath.
My heart has twinged with pangs of dread --
Lest, God forbid, it should be devoured --
The little kid, the whitest one,
From the cradle, from the folk tale,
The mama's Yiddish melody,
That still awaits its tikun.
Meanwhile, there passed year after year,
In truth, I'm already at home,
And here I let be heard out loud
My treasure, my cameo --
The little kid, the whitest one,
From the cradle, from the folk tale,
The mama's Yiddish melody
That delights and will delight.
View text with all available footnotes
Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Yiddish (יידיש) by Leibu Levin (1914 - 1983), copyright © by Ruth Levin, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
This text was added to the website: 2007-09-21
Line count: 24
Word count: 141