Words by Morris Winchefsky (1856-1932), pen name of Lipe Bentsion Novochovitch. The song is sung in a recent play A sheyne meydl (A Pretty Girl), dealing with the Holocaust, which was presented at numerous colleges. At the end of a TV retrospective on the work of artist Yosl Bergner, he plays this melody on his harmonica.
Oh, the world will get younger,
and life will be brighter, easier
Every complainer will become a singer
soon, brothers!
If only our people become smarter,
and chase away the deceiver,
the fox, and the tiger, too,
from our beautiful forest.
Oh, the world will grow more beautiful.
Love [will grow] greater, enmity smaller,
between wives and husbands,
between country and country.
Oh, the world will become freer,
Freer, finer, younger and newer,
and the truth will be treasured,
treasured as a friend.
Oh, the world will become bolder
and there will be no master,
not the crown and not the purse,
nor the soldier’s sword.
Thus, take heart in the ranks,
in the ranks to liberate,
to liberate and renew
our old world!
O, di velt vet vern yinger,
Un dos lebn laykhter, gringer,
Yeder kloger vet a zinger
Vern, brider, bald!
Loz dos folk nor vern kliger,
Un faryogn dem batriger,
Im, dem fuks, un oykh dem tiger
Fun zayn sheynem vald.
O, di velt vet vern shener,
Libe greser, sine klener,
Tsvishn froyen, tsvishn mener,
Tsvishn land un land;
O, di velt vet vern frayer,
Frayer, shener, yinger, nayer,
Un in ir di varheyt tayer,
Tayer vi a fraynd.
O, di velt vet vern dreyster
Un es vet nit zayn a mayster,
Nit di kroyn un nit der tayster, –
Nit dem zelners shverd.
Alzo mutik in di reyen,
In di reyen, tsu bafrayen,
Tsu bafrayen un banayen
Undzer alte velt!
אָ, די װעלט װעט װערן ייִנגער,
און דאָס לעבן לײַכטער, גרינגער,
יעדער קלאָגער װעט אַ זינגער
װערן, ברידער, באַלד!ּ
לאָז דאָס פֿאָלק נאָר װערן קליגער,
און פֿאַריאָגן דעם באַטריגער,
אים, דעם פֿוקס, און אױך דעם טיגער
פֿון זײַן שײנעם װאַלד.
אָ, די װעלט װעט װערן שענער,
ליבע גרעסער, שׂינאה קלענער,
צװישן פֿרױען, צװישן מענער,
צװישן לאַנד און לאַנד;
אָ, די װעלט װעט װערן פֿרײַער,
פֿרײַער, שענער, ייִנגער, נײַער,
און אין איר די װאַרהײַט טײַער,
טײַער װי א פֿרײַנד.
אָ, די װעלט װעט װערן דרײסטער
און עס װעט ניט זײַן אַ מײַסטער,
ניט די קרױן און ניט דער טײַסטער, –
ניט דעם זעלנערס שװערד,
אַלזאָ מוטיק אין די רײען,
אין די רײען, צו באַפֿרײַען,
צו באַפֿרײַען און באַנײַען
אונדזער אַלטע װעלט!
Song Title: Di Tsukunft
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.”
