Words by Soviet Yiddish poet Mendl Abarbanel (1888-1957); music by Ben Yomen (1901-1970). Published in the composer’s collection Zing, mayn folk, 1946.
The steppe has been mowed already
and everything has been gathered.
My dearest, come travel to me,
I will wait for your arrival!
The watermelons are ripe,
their juice is overflowing
they are drenched full of sweetness,
as my heart is full of love.
And the cherries, my dearest
are as black as your eyes.
The trees are so loaded with them
that the branches are bending.
Come travel to me, my dearest,
and enough of our dreaming.
My love is ripe and ready,
just as my plums are ready.
S’iz der step shoyn opgeshorn,
Un shoyn alts tsunoyfgenumen.
Libster mayner, kum tsu torn,
lkh vel vartn oyf dayn kumen, hey!
Di arbuzn zaynen tsaytik,
S’geyt di zaft fun zey ariber,
Ful mit ziskeyt ongegosn,
Vi mayn harts iz ful mit libe.
Un di karshn, libster mayner,
Zaynen shvarts vi dayne oygn.
Ongeshotn oyf di beymer
Un di tsvaygn zikh azh boygn.
Kum tsu torn, libster mayner,
Un genug shoyn undz tsu troymen,
Rayf un tsaytik iz mayn libe,
Vi s’iz tsaytik mayne floymen.
ס׳איז דער סטעפּ שױן אָפּגעשאָרן,
און שױן אַלץ צונױפֿגענומען.
ליבסטער מײַנער, קום צו פֿאָרן,
איך װעל װאַרטן אױף דײַן קומען, העי!
די אַרבוזן זײַנען צײַטיק,
ס׳גײט די זאַפֿט פֿון זײ אַריבער,
פֿול מיט זיסקײט אָנגעגאָסן,
װי מײַן האַרץ איז פֿול מיט ליבע.
און די קאַרשן, ליבסטער מײַנער,
זײַנען שװאַרץ װי דײַנע אױגן.
אָנגעשאָטן אױף די בײמער
און די צװײַגן זיך אַזש בױגן.
קום צו פֿאָרן, ליבסטער מײַנער,
און גענוג שױן אונדז צו טרױמען,
רײַף און צײַטיק איז מײַן ליבע,
װי ס׳איז צײַטיק מײַנע פֿלױמען.
Song Title: S’iz Der Step
The Songs of Generations: New Pearls of Yiddish Song anthology comprises songs that were either never printed before or appeared in rare and inaccessible publications — sometimes in different versions and without proper sources. Most of the songs in this book were submitted by readers of Chana and Yosl’s column “Perl fun der yidisher poezye” (Pearls of Yiddish Poetry) in the Yiddish newspaper Der Forverts (The Forward), initiated in October, 1970. Over 25 years, thousands of songs were collected in correspondence and on cassettes from readers throughout the world, and they represent a veritable national Yiddish song archive. Chana Mlotek, in her introduction, writes, “In the course of years the inquiries, contributions and enthusiasm of these readers have kept our own interest unflagging and have reinforced our dedication to this effort. And in recent years our participants have also been augmented by new readers from the former Soviet Russia, who receive our newspaper there or from newly-arrived immigrants in this country and Israel.”
