Undzer Friling
[Our Springtime]
by Mordechai Gebirtig
(Translated by Miryam Breitman)
See Lecture: The Seasons
| Friling oyf beymer, | Spring's on the tree tops |
| in feld un in vald, | in woods and in fields |
| Nor do in geto | But here in the ghetto |
| iz harbstik un kalt. | cold autumn we feel, |
| Nor do in geto | The ghetto is gray, |
| iz harbstik un trib, | full of sadness and grief |
| Vi bay an ovl in shtub. | We're sitting here silent, bereaved. |
| Friling! In droysn | Oh, springtime is out there |
| shoyn felder farzeyte, | where fields have been sown, |
| Do arum undz | But here only hopelessness |
| hot zikh yeush farshpreyt, | spreads out its thorns, |
| Do arum undz | And here guards surround us |
| shteyen moyern bavakht, | above on the walls |
| Vi far der tfise baynakht. | As night in our prison yard falls. |
| Friling - shoyn friling - | Springtime, it's springtime, |
| bald kumt on der may, | soon May will be here, |
| Nor in der luft | So leaden and dense |
| filt zikh pulver un blay, | feels the air circling near, |
| S'akert der talyen | The hangman is ploughing |
| mit zayn blutike shverd | with his bloody sword |
| Eyn groys beys-oylem - di erd. | One bitter graveyard - the earth. |
Source: Leichter, Sinai. Anthology of Yiddish Folksongs. Vol. 5: The Mordechai Gebirtig volume. Jerusalem, Hebrew University, 2000