BLACKWELL FAMILY
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL           SUBJECT FILE        Hebrew  poems-  Translations by
                                                                                      Alice  S. BlackwellSleigh Riding
The sky full of stars, & the fields full of snow,
We two in the infinite space!
The little bells chime and the little sleigh runs;
Through Dreamland we journey apace.
Press close, O my sweetheart, the horses speed fast,
We have not much further to go.
With its seventy towers, soon before us will rise
The palace of magic, aglow.
But no one has leave to draw near to its wall
The guards day & night are awake,
And whoever would seek to ride up to the gate
A sign to the watchmen must make.
Do you see those tall figures that stand in the path?
Of silvery mail their array,
And helmets of crystal they wear on their heads;
The guards of the castle are they.
Your little hands give me, and swear without sound
To do the same magic I do.
The sign we must make I was taught by a witch,
And now I will show it to you

A kiss on the lips, & a kiss on the throat,
And a third on the eyes we [you] must drop.
The sign, O my sweet one, is then made aright,
The sleigh very quickly will stop.
The palace will sparkle with thousands of lights,
And echo with song and with dance.
The hoary old king will come out all alone,
With welcome in smile & in glance.
He will bid us to enter the castle, & there
The fairies our servants will be,
And before us whatever our hearts can desire
On glittering plates we shall see.
Of all of the foods and the drinks we shall taste,
And after the [our] banquet is done,
The magic prince then a memento will give -
A rich diamond gift to each one.
The sky full of stars and the fields full of snow
We two where the vast expanse gleams!
The little sleigh rings, and the heart in me sings:
We ride through city of dreams!Belated Dream.
1
Spring comes, the air is fragrant,
([*The*] Heaven glows, the sky is glowing), the bird
calls
From the green tree down to me:
"(Open-raise-lift up) your (eyes-glance) lift
up your head,
And see and hear - it (gleams-glistens)
and buzzes,
The sweet time of life is (coming-approaches)".
2
Oh birdie sweet, oh birdie dear,
How can you know how my heart 
is sad?
I cannot hear, cannot see,
It has happened, it has happened,
My wound is deep, my woe is great,
My (most) beloved lies in the [lap of the]
grave.
[Oh, dead Love, oh great (sorrow-woe-calamity)
yet, forget I, forget and comfort myself! [?]
your pain is great, but yet, not for long,
again I sing
3
"Oh, dead love. oh great (calamity-woe)!
Forget, forget, and do comfort yourself,
your pain is great, yet not for long,
I will sing you again a song,-
The flower dies; comes a May,
Love yet, love yet anew!"
4.
In vain, my child, your finest effort
Remains strange to my heart, it
moves me not,
A flower witness, a tear falls,
The dear love lives no more.
Too (narrow-small) the (way-street)
too strange the [?????],
The best peace only in the grave.
M Rosenfeld

Lost
Just as a hero, who had lost
In the battlefield his (arms - ammunition)
Stands a target for all (shots - balls),
Sees the struggle but no more struggles -
Just so, oh, without a hope,
In Life's (wild - fierce) struggle
I stand and await with (fright - fear)
All (attacks - shots - balls) of Time
To My Mother
When thoughts of my mother come to my mind,
My tears begin to fall,
And deep sighs (lit.) break through my breast.
Mother dear, how I have to (suffer - for the want of - hunger for - crave)
For your love, and in my dreams only think
That you embrace me with (mother - love - a mother's longing)!
_____   ______  ______  ______
God in Heaven, (kind - benignant) and good,
Help this old woman, protect my mother!
Watch over her with thy great right hand!
(May - let) your good angels carry
My fervent (literally, hot) blessings and to
That I (remember - think of) her in a distant land!
M. Rosenfeld

Without the Companions (Comrades).
The night is dark, no stars are seen....
The sky is black, as the earth.
Wild rushes the sea of human tears,
Only executioner and sword reign - -
2.
Truth lies (lonely - wretched) locked in chaines,
Wounded by terrible enemies.
Oh truth! Where are your faithful comrades?
Where are your (honest - upright) friends?
3.
May come they not to heal your bleeding wounds?
And to do their human duty?
Has, them, the sun forever  disappeared,
Extinguished her sacred light?
4.
Is, then, spiritual humanity dead -
Are only executioners and slaves alive?
And all that is ugly, (dirty - unclean), corrupted,
Only these have the right to live?
5.
No, brothers, I cannot, I will not believe it!
We are exhausted, enslaved,
And fenced in, we (rear - prance - climb) like imprisoned (lions)
But yet our (power - might) is not dead!
6.
This human power can yet show wonders,
When the storm owakens our spirit,
As with magic it (breaks - will break) rocks and iron
The chains into pieces (tears - will tear)!
7.
He cannot lose hope [s] of freedom,
Who knows the world's history.
Only in darkness can reign
Might, Fraud and Money.
8.


8.
And (when - just as soon as) the bright morning (comes - will come)
Executioner and throne (is - will be) in danger,
Everything bad, which is in darkness hidden,
Will become to the people intelligible and clear.
9.
The chains will break; the thrones will fall
Only the free (reason - understanding) will reign.
Bloodhounds shall not be used, cannon not needed,
Love and Honor shall (watch - guard) the land.
10.
And if you have hope, lose not your weapons,
Which can lead you to conquest
Lose not the Truth, it (fights - struggles) for the slaves,
For human freedom and happiness.
11.
See how the Truth is lonely,
Wet with tears, a river of blood - - 
Come to her (truth), save her, brothers, comrades!
She struggles, and bleeds for you!
[*E??stadt's poem Comradeless]A Spring Dream
From the Yiddish of Yehoash.  Rendered
into English verse by Alice Stone Blackwell.
A trill in the air and a bud on the spray,
On my brow a warm breath of  spring's glee -
And at once in my heart
there was offered a rest,
And all yearning desires
were set free

A floating (lovely) white cloud that
has come from afar
I see o'er the blue heaven glide;
A leaf and a bough, I am
seated therein
And off wait gaily [?]


2
I fly oe'r valleys, I
hover oe'r hills;
A blithe breeze in chase
of me strays;
And now I reach up
to the bright shining 
And pluck me a handful of rays.

I weave from the (those) sun-rays
a wreath for my head,
And if there are left any leaves,
I scatter them down (tower)
to the right and the left,
Upon meadows and forests,
and streams,
(over)

It seems to me now, I
myself am the spring;
I am monarch of life,
in my dream;
And a gift from my
treasury, flowing from my hand,
Appears every flower,
very gleam.

Spring Dream

A trill in the air, a bud on a twig,
A warm breath [of air] on the forehead -
And a nest was opened in the heart
And set free all desires (longing-aspirations)'

2
I perceive there is swimming
about in the heavens,
A whitish cloud from afar -
A skip and a jump  (lit: a raising 
myself up & a spring or jump)
and I am already seated on it,
And let myself ride off on it.

3
I fly over valleys and hover over hillsAnd a "windlet" playfully (sportively)
  pursues me.....
Soon I reach up to the bright sun,
And pluck me a "bunchlet" of rays.
4
Then I weave (braid) myself a 
  wreathe (garland) for the head
  from them,
And if any rays are left -
I scatter them to the right, I scatter them
  to left,
Upon meadows, & forests & springs (rivulets).
5
And it seems [to me] I myself am the [spring,
And I am the king of life,
And wherever [there be] a shimmer,
  wherever a flower,
I have given [it] from my treasury,

 
-- MY UNPAID DEBT---
From the Yiddish of Yehoash
Rendered into English verse by
Alice Stone Blackwell
----
Like a cloud it hangs o'car me, my nation,
  Thy dark fate of trials and fears;
Wherever I turn, they stare at me --
  Thy dumb eyes, bestained with their tears.

I see them at night on my pillow,
  In slumber that fever-dreams fill;
I see them emerge from the darkness
  Around me, like stars boding ill.

And when I would seek in life's tumult
  To deafen the thought of the night,
Those eyes glow forever and burn me --
  I cannot take rest in their sight.

Is it then a reproach sent in anger,
  By indolent spirit to smite,
Or is it a summons to battle
  To render my duty in fight?

I am deep in thy debt, my poor nation,
  Oppressed in all lands, through all years;
I would fain give them all my possessions--
  But I possess nothing save tears![left-hand doc is simply reverse of mss1288000731-8 showing reverse/bleed -thru of typed version of "My Unpaid Debt" typed on NAWSA letterhead]



[right-hand doc is a version of same poem in handwriting:]


My Unpaid Debt
Yehoash

Like a cloud it hangs oe'r me, my nation
  Thy dark fate of trials appear depressed through the years
Wherever I turn, they stare at me
  Thy dumb eyes, bestained with their tears

I see them at night on my pillow
  In slumber that fever-dreams fill
I see them emerge swim out in the darkness
  Around me, like stars boding ill.

And when I would seek in life's tumult
  To deafen the thoughts of the night
Those eyes glow forever burn me;
  I cannot take rest in their sight.

It is then a reproach [made] sent in anger
  My indolent spirit to smite
  punish my indolent soul
Or is it a summons to battle,
  To render my duty in fight
My duty in war as its goal?

I am deep in thy debt,  my poor nation,
  Oppressed in all lands, through all years,
I would fain give thee all my possessions
  But I possess nothing save tears!
  [?Naught I frassese - Lexaft heart?]Do you see those tall
figures that stand in
the path?  Of silvery
mail their array
Sleigh - Riding
And crystal bright helmets they wear
on their heads: The guards
of the palace are they
4
Do you see there, those tall ones, who
  stand on (in) the way (path)
Armored in sliver spangles
  (bangles), [presumably referring
    to scaly armor]
Their head covered with
  crystal helmets?
Those are the the guard (guardians
  or watchers) of the palace.....


Sleigh Riding (on the Sleigh)
The sky full of stars, and the fields
  full of snow, the infinite space
He two in endless space [lit:
  [spaces]

The little bells ring (chime), and the
  little sleigh runs:
Through Dreamland [we're riding] apace
He ride (drive) in the land of dreams....
  we journey
2
Press close, O my sweetheart, the horses 
  speed run fast,
He haven't much longer further to travel
[Soon,] with its seventy towers, before
  us, will ride
The palace of magic show aglow
  itself.
4
But no one has leave to draw near to the gate
They [the guard or watchmen of thestanza 3] The guards day & night are awake
watch by day and
they watch by night
and whenever would to [?]
do not let [anyone] reach
the door
(or get close to) the castle.
a [?] to the watchmen must make
and whoever wishes to ride up
to it (come riding thither)
must give the watchmen a 
sign.
5 
(lit. little hands)
your little hands give me a [?] without sound
Now give me your hands and
to do the same magic I do
swear to me that you
will follow (imitate or repeat)
my magic and be silent
The signal was taught me long since by a witch
a magician (witch) had shown
And now I will show it to you
me the sign,
And I will now show it to you.
6
"a kiss on the lips, and a kiss on the
neck (throat),
And a third on the eyes we must [?] a third
And after our [?] is done
And [we shall have] tasted all the
the magic forever then a memeto
foods and drinks
will give us a souvenir (memento) the
A rich diamond gift to each one
magic - prince will give us
two precious diamond gifts...
10
The sky full of stars, and the field
full of snow,
the infinite space
We two, in endless space - 
The little sleigh rings, and the heart
in my sings:
We are riding through Dreamland [?]
We ride in the land of dreams.



The sign, my sweet one (sweetheart)
is (then) rightly made,
Soon will the sleigh stop.
The palace will sparkle with
thousands of lights,
And echo with dance and with song (s),
The gray old (hoary old gray ) king
alone will [come] out all alone
With welcome in smile & in glance
8
He will [bid] invite us to enter the castle & there 
our servants will be
And the fairies will wait upon us,
And before us all things whatever our hearts can desire
Upon sparkling plates, there, shall we everything
On glittering plates we shall see 
That we desire (crave), find.....
When all of the foods the drinks 
we have tried
And when our meals shall be ended.


                            Twilight

Hidden fingers scent the air
(lit: space)
A refreshing balsam from somewhere is flowing (begins to flow)
In the curtain (hangings) of the west, 
secret dreams
Of saffron & purple are weaving (spinning)
2. 
There echoes a song from endless worlds
And eternal silences begin to speak
Earth kisses the sky & night kisses the day.
And God from his throne kisses them both.
3.
A mist veil is rising  (lit: is weaving itself) out of the river,
And curls itself about (over)drowsy (sleepy) waves;
The waterfall sparkles with a
blood-red sparkle (lit: shine),
And sprinkles with red beads
(or corals)…
4.
On silken ears [of corn] falls
juicily the dew,
In bluish shadows the valleys
wrap themselves,
And against the pearl-colored
sky (lit: cloth),
The tree-tops depict themselves
the more sharply.
5.
The willow hangs her branches wearily down,
And reflects in the reddish water
A rabbit runs hastily across the path

(2
And leaps away through
the fields,
Until he appears (lit: glimmers)
from afar as a speck,
And then disappears
Thither, where a brand
Has the margin
Of the sky kindled (lit: up)...
6.
From her industrious hunt (chase)
Fully loaded (laden),
A belated bee is returning
With a feeble buzz,
Forward her rest,
And snatches on her way
Here and there,
Yet a last sip (lit: drink).
7.
A sound (murmur) & a flutter -
And then all is silent (mute)...A tired breathing,
Presses out from the plants,
The whole
Remainder of what is left of perfume
(fragrance - odor)…
Oh, say,
That splendor (glory)
Is it day,
Is it night?
8.
It is the charm
Of fading,
It is death which is beautiful...
It is the spirit
Which is shown
When the body falls away...
It is a note, which sounds,
When all of the music is still
(lit: sounded away)…
It is the heart of the world,

(3
Which overflows its deep 
source,
And has penetrated (reached)
up to the stars...
9.
'Tis not day,
'Tis not night -
It is something restless (which suffers)…
'Tis a wail (moan)
And a suppressed (choked) sobbing...
'Tis a God transported (enraptured)
to pain...
'Tis a joy,
Which weeps,
Silently...
'Tis longing & pining
'Tis the night in the shine (brightness),
Which are united,
And became
In pairing
Each beautified.10.
'Tis a sleep
And a being- awake, at the same time, 
'Tis an end
And a beginning of being --
And extinguishing of flames,
And a kindling of stars.....
11.
'Tis a praise and a thanks, 
And it is a desire.....
'Tis a singing, 
And a hearing & listening. 
12.
'Tis a [well] wave,
Which has broken (lit: spilled)
And shimmers & foams.....
'Tis a soul, 
which has locked itself up
and sorrows & dreams.....


Of the Kaatskill Mountains 

I bent down to the grass
To the grass coated with dew,
I drank the dew from my hand,
And [therewith] washed my eyes.
2.
From the eyes straight to the
  mind. (lit: brain)
Flowed the dew perceptibly (noticeably) 
And the world became bright 
And lighted up (lit: "be-rayed") by
  a hundred suns.
3.
And the mountains (hills) and 
  trees smile
And they wish me and they greet [me] : 
"To your health may the drink be
[The drink] Of the morning dew,the sweet."
4. 
and the sky(heavens) bends intimately (familarly on in friendly manner)
Breaks his proud blue dignity (lit: peace, tranqulity or repose)
and he laughs and gives his blessing: -
may it be to your cure (health good). "MY UNPAID DEBT
From the Yiddish of Yehoash
Rendered into English Verse by
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL.
Like a cloud it hangs o'er me, my
nation.
Thy dark fate of trials and tears;
Wherever I turn, they stare at me---
Thy dumb eyes, bestained with
their tears.
I see them at night on my pillow.
In slumbers that fever-dreams fill;
I see them emerge from the darkness
Around me, like stars boding ill.
And when I would seek in life's tumult
To deafen the thoughts of the night,
Those eyes glow forever and burn
me---
I cannot take rest in their sight.
Is it then a reproach sent in anger,
My indolent spirit to smite,
Or is it a summons to battle,
To render my duty in fight?
I am deep in thy debt, my poor nation.
Oppressed in all lands, through all
 years;
I would fain give thee all my possessions--
But I possess nothing save tears!2 copies
My Unpaid Debt.
From the Yiddish of Yehoash. Rendered
into English verse by Alice
Stone Blackwell. 

Like a cloud it hangs o'er me, my nation,
Thy dark fate of trials and fears;
Wherever I turn, they stare at me - 
Thy dumb eyes, bestained with their
tears.Telephone 1791 Haymarket 
Office of 
The Woman's Journal 
No. 3 Park Street, Room 16 
Boston, Mass., 190 

2
I see them at night on my pillow, 
In slumbers that fever-dreams fill; 
I see them emerge from the darkness 
Around me, like stars boding ill. 

And when I would seek in life's torment 
To deafen the thoughts of the night, 
Those eyes glow forever and burn me- 
I cannot take rest in their sight. 
Telephone 1791 Haymarket
Office of
The Woman's Journal
No. 3 Park Street, Room 16
Boston, Mass.,   190

3
Is it then a reproach sent in anger,
My indolent spirit to smite,
Or is it a summons to battle,
To render my duty in fight?
I am deep in thy debt, my poor nation,
Oppressed in all lands, through all years;
I would fain give thee all my 
possessions -
But I possess nothing save tears!
Telephone 1791 Haymarket

Office of
The Woman's Journal
No. 3 Park Street, Room 16

Boston, Mass., ...... 190Lost Faiths.
Ah, where is the well of
youth
Which never could be
drained dry (exhausted)?
When, scarcely would (did) one
idol disappear,
Then I would already be
bowing (kneeling) to another!
2.
Now I would kindle (lit: glow)
at black-eyes (lit: night-eyes
i.e. eyes as black and night)
Now kneel to blue-eyes
(lit: eye-sapphires),
Now woods and clouds would
[mislead or allure]
Now springs [of water] and rays
[of light] allure (mislead).
3.
And when I my faith in
eye's
My idol of love [have] lost,
And when the mountains and
fields
Became "commonplace-weary"
to me --4.
[Then] Humanity became
the ideal,
And the Future - the holy
faith.
until poisonously-cold
experience,
Came and robbed [me] of
this last.
5.
And now the play is over,
No more belief is left?
Tell me, friend, is there not
somewhere
An idol in life to believe
in?

By  Yehoash

Starry Shimmer
By Yehoash

At Least a TearWinter Song

Revel, revel ("carry on") fierce
(or angry) winds,
Conquer freely (desproMemories (Literally:
"Remembering Souls" or "In Memory of Souls" and
an expression used
by Jews to signify
"Remembering the Dead")
1.
Spring had renewed the
world
With fresh colors and
scents (fragrance),
The old (the past or old
things) is already forgotten,
The new [things] perfumes
the air......
2.
And I still carry along
with me
My faded flowers;
The past holds me enslaved
(lit: forged or enchained)
With its rusty chains.
3.
A heap of dead flowers
(literally: a treasure house of
dead flowers) draws me,Which is long already
in a dark abyss (world),
And when about me [?] [the world]
blossoms and laughs,
I sit and remember the
dead souls (meaning the
past).

[?]

By Yehoash

A Little World

I have created only for myself
A separate, small world
With its own winters
and springs,
With its own joys and
sorrows.
2
Outdoors there is wind
and storm
And lightening and thunder
and crash,
And I am sheltered in
my fortress (stronghold)
And refresh myself with
spring and laughter.
3.
And often when the world
is holiday-like (festive)
Arrayed (clad) with blossom
and flower.
Filled (lit: covered) with gloom
is my corner [my little
world]And it freezes there and
storms and snows....

[?]

By Yehoash

The Poetry of Despair
You call me a mourning-mother,
You say that inharmonious
And unpoetic is the song,
Which has not a light
(cheerful) tone (note).
2.
You call me a mourning-mother-
My child, the youthful life
(life of youth - youth)
Begins with a song of rays
(sun-beams - lighthearted song)
The poetry of striving (aspiration).
3.
It [life of youth] holds its head
up high
To stars and planets raised,
And as the feet of night-wanderers
(somnambulists)  
An abyss step over [safely],
4.
For more safely than he who wakesYou call me a mourning mother
You say that harsh alone
And void of poetry the song
That has not one bright tone.

You call me a mourning mother
My child, the youth of life
Begins with a song of sunbeams
Of aspiration's strife
with aspiration's rife

It hold its head uplifted
Toward stars & planets bright
And as somnambulists may step
O'er an abyss by night
More safely far than he who wakes
Youth lightly evermore
Confiding blindly in its power
Trips tombs & gravestones o'er.
When confidence has perished
The footsteps faltering grow
Weighed down with thoughts
of sadness
The head toward earth bows low
The faded eyes peer downward

So youth goes (steps) lightly,
In blind confidence of its might 
(power),
The tombs and gravestones over.
5.
Still, there comes a time when
confidence (faith) dies,
The feet begin to waver,
And this head bows down
toward the ground,
Weighed down with [heavy] thoughts
6.
And looking downward,
Peer the faded eyes.
An abyss under every step
With but a spider's web thinly drawn-over
(covered).
7.
Yet pain also creates itself a song
As does happiness (light-heartedness)
and pleasure;
For if youth's happiness has
its music
Despair (sadness) has its melody.
8.
You are at the first part
(over)  throw not
My song away in shame (disgust)
You, too, will reach (arrive at) the
   second part - 
The poetry of despair (sadness.).
And with [a] each step they see
A gulf, but thinly covered oer
With spiders tracery.
Yet Pain too stretches itself a song
As joy & gladness do
If youth's joy has its melody
Grief has its music too.
You [do] now are at the first
   part.
Do not my poems doom?
You too will reach the second
  part - 
The poetry of gloom.A Dream

I dreamed there lay
about [lay spread]
A black-beclouded night,
And [that] I had died and
was lying in a coffin
Closed up.
2.
Through a crack (crevice) I
saw how a star
Danced about in a sorrowful
mien (mood)
[And] know that my soul
was looking the coffin
Into.
3.
The wind sighed (literally:
wept), there was no one
To let fall a single tear,
The star itself hovered
and trembled
The more.

over

[A] Stormy Night.

The wailing (moaning) of
the storm,
Woke me out of bed at
night
The rain beats on the
window-panes,
And I believe he scoffs
(mocks - scorns).
2.
[He] calls me, I think, by
name,
Calls me into the dark
cold,
Where the blind storm
snarls (lit: barks)
Maledictions on the world.
3.
I can no longer close
an eye,
The rain drowns and me
seems:
I must obey him and
go out[?]

By Yehoash

Into the desolate night.

[?]

By YehoashLate Flowers 

In the heart have withered (wilted) 
The dead flowers of youth 
And withering were won't there 
A poisoned odor (fragrance) to spread 
----
Yet flower seeds there 
Have been deep buried (sunken) 
And now, new-little stocks 
Have begun to sprout. 
----
How should I name them? 
The late winter seeds (winter growth) 
They fascinate the eye, 
  yet wake 
In the breast no desire (cravings)
----
How shall I call these flowers, 
Which have no fragrance
Yet from them spreads 
  something, 
Which wonderfully wild
  and soft is?My Secret.

And much as I should sing to you, (  or much as I
may not sing to you )
You will get but the sparks;
The flame--the flame it remains with me
Locked in and kept silent about.

And much as I should say to you,  (  or much as I
may not say to you ) 
You get but the spray of the waves,
The sea-- the sea will I alone
Possess for myself.

And much as I should versify for you, (or much as
I may not versify for you )
And tell you of my world,
My secret -- my secret no one shall
Share with me in life.

Corrected Copy.

"And" the first word in each stanza really looses
its force in the translations and might well be
omitted, as you probably will anyway in your
own version.[*Bloomgarten's poems*]
Two Prayers
1.
There prays pitifully (mournfully) a flower
  Which grows alone in the desert:
Creator of Heaven, shall then
  My youth pass away in the desert,
Yet before one (anyone) has admired me (literally
  "wondered at" me),
And [before he] has been with my odor soothed
  and delighted?
Shall I, then, never be 
  Plucked by loving fingers!
2.
There wails (sorrows, cries) another in the garden,
- In fright she awaits the hands,
Which will pick (pluck) her, and make
To her peaceful growing an end:
"Creator of Heaven, why have you
Made (created) for me such a lot (given or
  assigned me such a lot)
To be loved and admired,
And through love to become destroyed?" 
3.
The flowers sorrow (wail) apart [from each other]
  Each has a different demand (desire); 
The Lord, He hears the complaints (arguments)
  of both 
And for each He feels sorry (feels compassion).A mournful prayer arises from a
  flower
That grows alone amid the desert
  gray:
Creator, Lord of Heaven, must my youth
Here in this lonely dreary desert pass away
Ere everyone my beauty has admired
That Blooms [alone] unseen amid the rocks & sands,
Or by my fragrance has been soothed & cheered?
Shall I then nier be plucked by lovely words?
Another flower with in the garden wails
____________________________________________________
In fears she waits the hands that will draw neigh
To gather her & to an end to bring 
Her peaceful quilt time of growing safe & free,
  peacefully 
"Creator, Lord of Heaven!" she sadly cries,
Why such a lot has thou assigned to me,
To be beloved admired & coveted
And [thus because of love for] love's [very] sake destroyed & slain to be?

Far from each other the two flowers lament
Each [lifts unto the Lord a different plea] with a different prayer to God appeals 
[The Lord] The Lord gives ear to the complaints of both
And for both blossoms He compassion feels[*Bloomgarten's poems*]
Two Prayers
1.
There prays pitifully (mournfully) a flower
  Which grows alone in the desert:
Creator of Heaven, shall then
  My youth pass away in the desert,
Yet before one (anyone) has admired me (literally
  "wondered at" me),
And [before he] has been with my odor soothed
  and delighted?
Shall I, then, never be 
  Plucked by loving fingers!
2.
There wails (sorrows, cries) another in the garden,
- In fright she awaits the hands,
Which will pick (pluck) her, and make
To her peaceful growing an end:
"Creator of Heaven, why have you
Made (created) for me such a lot (given or
  assigned me such a lot)
To be loved and admired,
And through love to become destroyed?" 
3.
The flowers sorrow (wail) apart [from each other]
  Each has a different demand (desire); 
The Lord, He hears the complaints (arguments)
  of both 
And for each He feels sorry (feels compassion).Yehoash

Homelike, sweet the streamlet murmurs
  In the sun its waters ripples leaf
Childlike down the hill it babbles
  And the trees have are all fallen drifted asleep
It hath [all likewise] also with its murmur
  Lulled the mountains rising near
It alone speaks on & frattled
Minutely heaven & earth give ear.
Half awake I lie half sleeping & half in slumber
  With And my mind [a mist I lie] is in a mist
[Here]  Through my [slumbering] [?] brain the forests grew wood
  Weave Tangled twine & themselves & intertwist
Hill & sky & grass & fountain
Slowly blend together all
And With the dreamy like rush & tumult
  Of a distant waterfall
Memories
Yehoash

Spring had renewed the world &
  wrought once more
Fresh scents, fragrances to earth fresh colors fair              
The old time things already are forgot is forgot
The new shed forth perfumes  the air
  breathes out their perfume on the air                         
And still yet I bear along carry still with me my flower
   My flowers all withered, faded, dry & dull faded flowerets dull
The Past, it holds me fast enchained
  [With In] Imprisoned in its rusty fetters still

A heap of dead flowers draws me yet
  With petals long since shed
When all around me blooms & [?] - 
  I sit & mourn the dead

A treasury of dead flowers draws me yet
  Much in the dark
Flowers which long since their fragrant
   petals shed.
[When] And when the world around me blooms
   & laughs       
Silent I sit and muse remember upon the dead
I sit & mourn remembering the dead
   musePoem by Yehoash
Two Year Lights (Put up in the synagogue or home in memory of the dead)

The Meter
-/--/--/--/
-/--/--/-
-/--/--/--/-
-/--/--/

The sexton has lit two lights in the synagogue
And put them quite near each other
The candles look at each so sad/mournful
They recognized each other.
---
The light of the fires-candles are bowing to each other
(are striving to reach each other)

These two lights are two souls (a pair)
In the same day they died
And today is just a year

The end
The sexton has lit in the temple two lights
Which near to each other he places.
They look at each other with sad mournful faces
They know each other, the lights.

The candles' [fla] bright flames to each other bend near
The souls of a couple true-hearted
The lights are; from earth the same day they departed.
Today there has [passed] fled just a year.The object is to Cultivate and Spread Jewish Music
AMERICAN HEBREW 
MUSICAL SOCIETY 
251 East Broadway 
NEW YORK 
Nissim Behar, President 
Abraham Klinkovstein, Vice President 
Dr. Charles Spivake, 2d Vice President 
Dr. Jacob Lichtenstein, Treasurer 
Max Dolin, Secretary 
Platon Brounoff, Musical Director 
NEW YORK, 19

Dear Mrs Blackwell,
Many thanks for your book of songs. I read most of them and am surprised how beautifully you caught the right spirit and put into english 
there are the last songs of the book (!)
Sincerely [?[
PC B[?]Shimmer of Stars. 
1. 
Each eve before I retire, 
I gaze long upon the stars, 
Drink deep (literally, drink myself full) with their stillness, 
As with a sweet sleeping potion. 

2 
My eyes draws in new thoughts, 
From the gold-besprinkled space (or vastness) 
And the soul is clarified and purified, 
Dipping in the blue azure (stream of air). 

3 
Rinses and washes the colored dyes (literally the powdered colors) 
And the lies from the day, 
The false joys, the false smiles (false flatteries) 
The false pain, and the false lament. 

4 
After bathing in the starry shimmer, 
I fall asleep strengthened, 
And in my dreams is woven 
A web of starshine (starry shimmer). 
[*By "yehoash"*]Twilight Yehoash

[Now] Now viewless Hidden fingers scent the air with fragrance
[And Forth] And from some source a balm refreshing streams [flows]
Saffron [fair] and purple fair [in burns] amid within the curtains
Of [the] western skies are [weaving] spun by secret dreams.
Now the eternal silences are speaking
[Rings] from endless worlds there rings an echoing strain
[The And] Now Earth the sky & night [the] the day is kissing
And From his throne God bends to kiss the twain
[Now Lo a mist veil] A veil of mist is rising from the river,
[And It] It Wraps the drowsy waves without a sound;
[Gleams] the water-fall gleams out with blood-red shimmer,
And Sprinkl[ing]es ruddy corals all around.

On silken ears of corn the dew is falling
The valleys wrap themselves in bluish shade
Against the pearly sky the darksome tree tops
More clearly and more sharply stand displayed,
The willow droops  in weariness her her weary branches down
Mirrored in water red with dying day
Across the path a rabbit swiftly scurriesAnd though the [?] goes bounding far away
Till but a speck he seems amid the distance
There vanished from vision silently 
Toward where a brand whom the far horizon
Has [lighted] kindled up set on fire] the margin of the sky
From her industrious hunt, a bee deep-laden belated
[Rut] Return[ing]s to seek her rest at close of day,
Belated Deep-laden, faintly buzzing, and yet still snatching
A last sip here and there along her way.
A sound, a flutter, and then all is silent
[A weary breath] A weary breath from all the plants takes flight
Exhaling all that still remains of fragrance perfume
Ah, say, that splendor, is it day or night?
It is the charm of fading, of declining - 
Death which is beautiful amid decay
It is the spirit, that is manifested
When the frail lady fails & falls sinks away
It is a note that sounds when all the music
Has died away & vanished utterly to silence ceased without a sigh
Heart of the world, its deep source overflowing


Of the Catskill Mountains    Yehoash

I bend me down to the grass, 
Where the soft dew sparkling lies;
I drink from my hand the dew
  And with it I bathe mine eyes.

From the eyes to the brain straightway
  The clear dew glittering runs,
And the world grows bright and fair,
  Lit up with a hundred suns. 
And the trees & mountains smile,
  And my heart they seem to greet:
"To your health may the drink
  be quaffed
Of the morning dew so sweet!"

And the sky in friendly guise will 
Breaks his brand calm, blue & pure, [blue clam secure]
And bends, with a blessing and laugh:
"May the dew-draught work
  your cure!"Spring Dream    Yehoash

Lo a trill in the air & a bud on the spray!
  A warm breath on the brow came to me,
An therewith in my heart there was
  opened a nest,
And all the wishes and longings set free.

A white cloud that comes from the distance afar
  I see through the blue heavens glide
A skip & a jump, I am seated thereon,
  And off on it [?] gaily I ride.

I fly over valleys; I hover o'er hills,
  Pursued by a zephyr that plays;
And soon I reach up to the
  bright shining sun,
And pluck me a handful of rays,

And of them a garland I weave for
  my hand,
  And if there are any to share
I scatter them down, right & left, on the [?],
  The forests & [streamlets brook] rivulets so fair.
And me seems I myself am the Spring -
  I [?] march of life in my dream

Tis praise and thanks, yet with a desire
commingled
A singing and a listening [too] it seems
It is a broken wave that foams &
shimmers
A soul that shuts itself, & grieves
dreamsAnd rising/reaching upward to the stars on high
It is not day, it is not night, but
  something
That suffers restless - 'tis a wailing/strain
A moan - ['tis] a lost/suppressed & smothered
  sobbing
It is a God enraptured unto pain 
It is a joy that soundless weeps - a
  firming,
Yearning  & longing that o'er flows the soul
'Tis night in brightenss; [which] here they are
  [here] united
And in their mating each more
  beauteous grows.
It is [to be] at once [awake] asleep & [sleeping wake] an awakening
An end of being, a beginning too:
It is a dying out of flames, extinguished
A kindling up of stars and the blue