Folksong. Textual variant published in 1913 by D. Einhorn in Der Pinkes; words and music published in 1927-1928 by Y.L. Cahan. Used by permission of the copyright owners, Ethnic Music Publishing Co., Inc.
Oh, what a beautiful night! That night was so beautiful. We sat on a bench and the moon began to fade. On a bench we sat and had a good time. We talked so long without settling anything.
What do you want me to promise you, when I must go to the army and we cannot marry? You understand that. — Give me your right hand and swear you truly love me. Swear you won’t forget me until death.
— I can’t give you my right hand. But I swear I truly love you. l swear I’ll never forget you until death.
Oy, a nakht a sheyne!
Di nakht iz geven azoy sheyn;
Oyf a benkele zaynen mir gezesn,
Di levone hot genumen avekgeyn.
Oyf a benkele zaynen mir gezesn,
Mir hobn dort freylekh farbrakht;
Vifl reyd mlr hobn ayngetaynet,
Keyn end hobn mlr beyde nit gebrakht.
— Vos zhe far an end, libe, vilstu?
Az kh’bin a yingele un muz tsum zhereb* shteyn;
Keyn knas-mol kenen mir nit makhn,
Dos kenstu aleyn gut farshteyn.
— Gib zhe mir dayn rekhte hentele
Un shver mir tsu, az du host mikh emes lib;
Shver mir, az du vest mikh nisht fargesn
Bizn tog fun dem fintstern grib.
— Mayn rekhte hentele ken lkh dir nit gebn —
Kh’shver dir tsu, az ikh hob dikh emes lib!
Kh’shver dir, az ikh vel dikh nisht fargesn
Biz tsum tog fun mayn fintstern grib!
*zhereb — military conscription
אױ, אַ נאַכט אַ שײנע!
די נאַכט איז געװען אַזױ שײן;
אױף אַ בענקעלע זײַנען מיר געזעסן,
די לבֿנה האָט גענומען אַװעקגײן.
אױף אַ בענקעלע זײַנען מיר געזעסן,
מיר האָבן דאָרט פֿרײלעך פֿאַרבראַכט;
װיפֿל רײד מיר האָבן אײַנגעטענהט,
קײן ענד האָבן מיר בײדע ניט געבראַכט.
— װאָס זשע פֿאַר אַן ענד, ליבע, װילסטו?
אַז כ’בין אַ ייִנגעלע און מוז צום זשערעב שטײן;
קײן קנס־מאָל קענען מיר ניט מאָכן,
דאָס קענסטו אַלײן גוט פֿאַרשטײן.
— גיב זשע מיר דײַן רעכטע הענטעלע
און שװער מיר צו, אַז דו האָסט מיך אמת ליב;
שװער מיר, אַז דו װעסט מיך נישט פֿאַרגעסן
ביזן טאָג פֿון דעם פֿינצטערן גריב.
— מײַן רעכטע הענטעלע קען איך דיר ניט נעבן —
כ’שװער דיר צו, אַז איך האָב דיך אמת ליב!
כ’שװער דיר, אַז איך װעל דיך נישט פֿאַרגעסן
ביז צום טאָג פֿון מײַן פֿינצטערן גריב!
Song Title: Oy, A Nakht A Sheyne
First published in 1988 as Pearls of Yiddish Song: Favorite Folk, Art and Theatre Songs, this anthology contains 115 songs. Some material had never been published, while others, included in rare song collections or sheet music, were largely inaccessible. The songs presented reflect Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the United States and depict childhood, love, family celebrations, poverty, work and struggle. There are also songs from the Hasidic and Maskilic movements, songs of Zion and of America, as well as songs from the Yiddish theater.
The title of this anthology derives from the weekly two-page feature column “Pearls of Yiddish Poetry,” which the compilers Yosl and Chana Mlotek initiated in 1970 in the Yiddish newspaper Der Forvertz (the Yiddish Daily Forward). Hundreds of readers from around the world — including authors, composers, singers, actors — became co-participants in this collective folk project and recalled melodies, lines, fragments, stanzas and their variants of songs, poems, and plays which they had heard in their youth. At first, readers sent in only written material. Later, they also taped songs on cassettes, many of whose melodies had, until then, never been recorded. They also identified and supplied missing information regarding lyricists, poets, and composers and described the circumstances surrounding the songs’ origins, their dissemination, diffusion and impact.
