I love this poem and your translation of it too, Daniel. I was wondering about the impersonal aspect of the Yiddish "a good sister," and then saw your question at the end. If he had a sister, he might have left off the "a" or he might indeed have written "tayere shvester," as you translated it, as a more intimate address? Maybe.
Yes, great questions. I also wondered about this, and about how best to translate it! The impersonal general aspect of the address was difficult for me.
The prohibition against cremation is so salient, that if a Jew requests cremation (traditionally a pagan death rite, in pyres), their relatives are supposed to dishonor the request and bury the body anyway. I wonder if Ravitch was in fact cremated per the wishes expressed in this poem or not.
He seems to have been buried in Montreal's Baron De Hirsch cemetery (along with many of the city's other great Yiddish literary figures.) So that would imply some version of a traditional Jewish burial.
I love this poem and your translation of it too, Daniel. I was wondering about the impersonal aspect of the Yiddish "a good sister," and then saw your question at the end. If he had a sister, he might have left off the "a" or he might indeed have written "tayere shvester," as you translated it, as a more intimate address? Maybe.
Yes, great questions. I also wondered about this, and about how best to translate it! The impersonal general aspect of the address was difficult for me.
I think burning meant metaphorically, like extinction. I wonder if a different desire, even honest, in the past century, especially.
Interesting, thanks for sharing this reading!
The prohibition against cremation is so salient, that if a Jew requests cremation (traditionally a pagan death rite, in pyres), their relatives are supposed to dishonor the request and bury the body anyway. I wonder if Ravitch was in fact cremated per the wishes expressed in this poem or not.
He seems to have been buried in Montreal's Baron De Hirsch cemetery (along with many of the city's other great Yiddish literary figures.) So that would imply some version of a traditional Jewish burial.
Interesting!
He *is* shockingly underrated and under-translated in my very humble opinion (I’ve had reason to touch upon him a few times).
I, too, wonder about the impersonal here. אפשר א קראנק שוועסטער? And is it a bit of a call-back to א גוטע פריינט?
Great questions and thoughts. I'm going to keep sitting with this and also when I have some time look for other versions of this kind of address.
His poetry really is so underrated!
I'm sorry to hear that you had Covid! Hope you have made a full recovery.