Words by Avrom Reyzen (1875-1953), composer unknown. Published with this melody in Di fraye muze, 1918 and Binishe lider, 1932. The song was popular in the Yiddish schools in this country and was sung annually at the traditional Third Seyder of the Workmen’s Circle. It was also sung during the Holocaust. Poet Abraham Sutzkever writes that he heard the children of I. Gershteyn’s chorus singing this song in the Vilna Ghetto: “[Gershteyn] brought the children closer, arranged them according to their voices, and over the garret, over the ghetto, over the whole world rang out ‘Un zol vi vayt‘ . . . ” Another melody by J. S. Roskin, printed in Hasomir’s Sangbog was arranged for chorus by Zavel Zilberts.
And however far away the time
of love and peace may be,
it will come nonetheless, sooner or later,
that time– it is no dream!
I hear the song of love and peace,
the mighty singing;
And every note of the song announces,
the sun has risen!
The night is ending, the world is waking
full of hope, joy and striving.
You hear– a voice is calling in the air
to happiness, to joy and to life!
Un zol vi vayt nokh zayn di tsayt
Fun libe un fun sholem,
Dokh kumen vet, tsi fri, tsi shpet,
Di tsayt––es iz keyn kholem!
lkh her dos lid fun libe, frid,
Di mekhtike gezangen;
Un yeder ton fun lid zogt on:
Di zun iz oyfgegangen!
Es ekt di nakht, di velt dervakht
Ful hofnung, lust un shtrebn.
Du herst––in luft a shtime ruft:
Tsu glik un freyd un lebn!. . .
און זאָל װי װײַט נאָך זײַן די צײַט
פֿון ליבע און פֿון שלום,
דאָך קומען װעט, צי פֿרי, צי שפּעט,
די צײַט – עס איז קײן חלום.
איך הער דאָס ליד פֿון ליבע, פֿריד,
די מעכטיקע געזאַנגען;
און יעדער טאָן פֿון ליד זאָגט אָן:
די זון איז אױפֿגעגאַנגען.
עס עקט די נאַכט, די װעלט דערװואַכט
פֿול האָפֿנונג, לוסט און שטרעבן.
דו הערסט – אין לופֿט אַ שטימע רופֿט
צוּ גליק און פֿרײד און לעבן!
Song Title: Dos Naye Lid
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.”
