After a rough bout of covid, I am back in action and excited to share some Yiddish poetry with you. Today we return to Melech Ravitch (1893-1976), who was one of the very first poets I translated here. I’ve returned to him twice since then, and I’m always glad to spend some time with his writing, which is surprisingly under-translated.
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.
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.
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.
I think burning meant metaphorically, like extinction. I wonder if a different desire, even honest, in the past century, especially.
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 *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?
I'm sorry to hear that you had Covid! Hope you have made a full recovery.