Folksong in the form of a letter. Sung by compiler Yosl Mlotek, who heard it at a summer camp in Warsaw from Isaac Giterman, director of the Joint Distribution Committee in Poland, in the 1930s. A different melody was published by Schack and Cohen, 1924. The Tsaytshrift…II-III (1927-1928) has the following text: “Ikh hob dikh lib Vi yontevdikn kigl / Un ale meydlekh / Zaynen ba mir migl / Fun mir, fun mir / Fun mir dayn khosn Idl” (I love you like holiday kugel, all other girls disgust me. From me, your bridegroom Yidl).
I love you like a Passover broth,
you are really beautiful and fine;
Next to you all other girls are worthless*.
From me, your groom-to-be, Yosl.
Outside there’s a torrential rain,
it’s dark, wet and cold in the house.
My heart is fluttering around inside me like a rag.
From me, your bride, Zlate.
*posl. Literally means, something invalid for use in performing a commandment.
lkh hob dikh lib vi a peysakhdikn rosl,
Du bist dokh take sheyn un fayn;
Ale meydelekh zaynen akegn dir posl.
Fun mir, dayn khosn Yosl.
In droysn geyt a zaverukhe mit a regn.
In shtub iz fintster, nas un kalt.
Mayn harts tut zikh in mir varfn vi a shmate.
Fun mir, dayn kale Zlate.
איך האָב דיך ליב װי אַ פּסחדיקן ראָסל,
דו ביסט דאָך טאַקע שײן און פֿײַן;
אַלע מײדעלעך זענען אַקעגן דיר פּסול.
פֿון מיר, דײן חתן יאָסל.
אין דרױסן גײט אַ זאַװוערוכע מיט אַ רעגן,
אין שטוב איז פֿינצטער, נאָס און קאַלט.
מײַן האַרצ טוט זיך אין מיר װאַרפֿן װי אַ שמאַטע.
פֿון מיר, דײַן כּלה זלאַטע.
Song Title: Ikh Hob Dikh Lib Vi A Peysakhdikn Rosl
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.”
