Mikhl Gelbart’s A shtikl papir (A Scrap of Paper), to a poem by H. Leivick [Leivick Halpern] (1886–1962), expresses the pain of either aborted romantic love or a situation in which the speaker was rebuffed. The longing is unabated in the urge to have the lost lover or loved one at least possess a “little letter”—a scrap of paper— “so that somewhere near you there should be a piece of paper with my name on it.”
Poem: H. Leivick [Leyvik Halpern]
Sung in Yiddish
We will never see each other again.
Your coldness has cruelly driven me away.
If I only knew where you live now,
I would write you a letter.
Of you I'll write nothing;
Of you I'll demand nothing.
Why remind oneself of things
Which have long since passed
I would write down the date,
And under the date: my name,
So that somewhere near you there should be
A piece of paper with my name.
Poem: H. Leivick [Leyvik Halpern]
mir vein zikh keynmol nit zen mer,
dayn kaltkayt hot beyz mikh fartribn;
dayn voynung ven ikh volt gevust nor–
a brivl volt ikh dir geshribn,
fun dir volt ikh gomit dertseyln,
fun dir volt ikh gomit farlangen;
tsu vos zikh dermonen on zakhn,
vos zaynen fun lang shoyn fargangen?
ikh volt oysgeshribn dem datum,
un unter dem datum: mayn nomen,
zol valgern ergets bay dir zikh
a shtikl papir mit mayn nomen.
Performers: Ida Rae Cahana, Mezzo-soprano; John Musto, Piano
Translation: Eliyahu Mishulovin
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