The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth CenturyWiener, Leo
History
The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century
Wiener, Leo
Yiddish literature -- History and criticism
Ehrenkranz also has some songs in which are described the sorrows of
various occupations,--a kind of poetry more specially cultivated by
Berel Broder. Of the latter little is known except that he composed his
songs probably at a time anterior to those just mentioned, that he had
lived at Brody, hence his name, and that he had never published them.
They were collected by some one after his death and published several
times; however, it is likely that several of them are of other
authorship, as is certainly the case with 'The Wanderer,' which belongs
to Ehrenkranz. As has been said above, he prefers to dwell on the many
troubles that beset the various occupations of his countrymen, of the
shepherd, the gravedigger, the wagon-driver, the school teacher, the
go-between, the usurer, the precentor, the smuggler. They are all
arranged according to the same scheme, and begin with such lines as: 'I,
poor shepherd,' 'I, lame beadle,' 'I, miserable driver,' 'I, wretched
school teacher,' and so forth. The best of these, and one of the most
popular of the kind, is probably the 'Song of the Gravedigger.' Of the
two songs of dispute, 'Day and Night' and 'Shoemaker and Tailor,' the
first is remarkable in that each praises the other, instead of the more
common discussions in which the contending parties try to outrival one
another in the display of their virtues.
The style of these two Galicians and their very subject-matter were soon
appropriated by a very large class of folksingers in Russia who amuse
guests at wedding feasts. Before passing over to the writers in Russia
we shall mention the two other Galicians who, writing at a later time,
have remained unknown beyond their own country, but one of whom at least
deserves to be known to a larger circle of readers. The one, David
Apotheker, in his collection 'Die Leier,' pursues just such aims as his
Polish or Russian fellow-bards and is entirely without any local
coloring. The poems are written in a pure dialect, without any
admixture of German words, but their poetic value is small, as they are
much too didactic. Of far higher importance and literary worth are the
productions of his contemporary, Bajrach Benedikt Schafir. Being well
versed in German and Polish literature, he generally imitates the form
of the best poems in those languages and often paraphrases them for his
humble audiences. His language is now almost the literary German, now
his native dialect, according as he sings of high matters or in the
lighter vein. In the introduction to one of his earlier pamphlets
written in a pure German, he says that in Germanizing his native dialect
it has been his purpose so to purify the Jargon that it should become
intelligible even to German Jews. The most of his songs were collected
in 'Melodies from the Country near the River San.' These he divided into
four parts: Jewish national songs, songs of commemoration, songs of
feeling, and comical songs,--the first three, with an elegy on the death
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account