A Poem That Sam Loved

Ch.N. Bialik
Sh. Friedman
November the 30th 1914
Translated from Yiddish by Ken Blady

p.1

I have been sent to you by God
He saw that you are becoming __
He saw that you are sloven and fallen [foilt un fahlt]
You are getting older from day to day

The hand has oopgeluzt [desisted, relinquished]
And the strength [power] has been oisgeluzt [depleted, exhausted]
And God reminded himself of you
And he brought me to you

And thus did God say to me:
Too difficult the burden – I can’t anymore!…
Go, rip from their heart because [?] “__“
Shoot out from their eyes a tear!

And may the tear be heavy and bitter
And may the last sigh be heaved loudly
So that the earth will shutter
And shake off of itself the evil.

I obeyed and I went
My path was strewn with stones
But one sensation [gefeehl] and one request
Was partly blissful in my bones

p.2

I felt that you were among snakes
And with you, by you, there is no one, no one…
I was driven by your pain
I thought that help was urgent

I have been punished by God with a heart
I have a heart that grieves for others
Who writhes from others’ pain
And who burns in the other’s hell…

I heard that it is difficult for you
So I thought you feel and know
And you become quiet as you are choking on your tear [singular]
As you search for help and you beg for consolation

And precious are these moments…
I am going, I am looking, I want to heal wounds
With you as one I will blossom
When necessary I want to bond

And where it’s necessary I want to lick up
The blood that is gushing [?trievt] from your wound
I want to console, beg, cry, awaken
I won’t let anything go aground!

I am going, I am coming, I carry a comfort
I am carrying a message of joy

p.3

I have have been graced by God with spirit
I will present you with my soul…
God has dirtied me with mud [if the word is bluteh]
Which rips up mountains and is never fatigued

And God sent me a __
A sharp one, like a sharp blade
If you are stone, it is to convince [einvyzen]
If you are convinced [vyzen], it is steel

I am coming [if the word is kuk and not kum it means “I am looking”], and I just want to reveal myself
And you will suddenly rise up…
Now I am standing under your door
And my voice is paralyzed [oopgenimn]

A difficult night is hanging over me
My face, my light, has been extinguished
I encountered mockery and disgrace
You have slammed the door shut on me

And God’s hand was repulsed
And God’s word is laughed at…
So I crawled in the dirt to you
And all the clothes __ [einerikht?]

I broke my hands for you [or, With my hands I broke for you]

p.4

And help from you, I looked for you…
But no one came to the assistance, no one
And I am “cryer, cryer, cryer”
My prayers were heard by the wall [or, Only the wall heard my prayers]

You have shut the door for me
And God’s hand was repulsed!
And God’s word is laughed at!
But you should know, you the unfortunate ones, know –

I will no more console for you…
I have a word, a terrible word
Which will lift you from the spot
Which will make the light turn black for you

Which will poison your heart
And your mouth will poison the morsels
A bitter meal for you this bread
This life will disgust you

And won’t permit you to die…
The word joy does not exist in your vocabulary
I have already burned my soul
I have torn off [severed] my bond with you

Broken, my bed lies in the ground

p.5

I want to pour out my gallbladder to you
And I will spit on you with blood
And God said to me thusly:
For the last time scream out  an “OY!”

And give a sigh for the last time
So that mountain and valley will tremble
And with a bilious voice say:
Listen, deaf one, listen. The day is coming

I am releasing a sun of righteousness
And I will splash the world with radiance
But you yourselves will remain chattel
And you will not benefit from one drop of light

As a blind man has with sons and daughters
And you will be banging on strangers’ doors
With your face to the ground you will collapse
And in strange springs [kvalln –wells] you will be kneeing

And your thirsty throat will be stretched out
And you will be begging I am fainting — a drop…
But you will encounter only mockery
All the sources [springs] will be closed to you

p.6

I am sending down a wild spirit
Which freshens like dew from God and shows
A new path to new heavens
But you will be dry like straw

I don’t want the dew to fall upon you
__? You will always be sluggish and grow moldy
And if something has been left from before
A spark of spiritual feeling and believing

An earnest sighing, a hot tear
I will reverence this on an individual basis
And your heart will remain empty [vacuous]
Without zest, without spirit, without body and soul

And your  __ [tzelt?] will be wasted
And you will have to shlep around
Like strangers in a strange land
And beg from the rich man’s table

And always end up at strangers’ doorsteps
So that your wounds will be exposed
And strangers will __
And stretch out a quivering hand

p.7

And ask for alms in the parlance of beggars
But you will be begging for money
And you’ll be living off a groshn [penny]
And your life will be bitter

A long night and not one star…
And your __ the wind will blow away
And God refuses to hear your voice
And your needs will be terrible

How great and terrible is the sin
How you will die a suffocating death
And you won’t be pining [hankering] again for life
But God won’t __ the two of you

And the pain will be excruciating
Even your own heart
Will not permit your own mouth…
You will __ higher and higher

You will take a breath and you won’t be able to
This is a grave, but buried
You will be living zombies there

p.8

This is a fiery hell
Which in the end will never have
But it is a hell without death
And God says __

Now I’m going down
To the __ __ house and I buy a pot
__ __ throw and I say thereby
Strong and loud so that everyone can hear!

This is how you will be broken down!
And don’t speak anymore, don’t cry, and don’t scream
The head is __ and becoming silent
The day is coming, it is coming…