Hayyim Nahman Bialik poems
Hayyim Nahman Bialik(9 January 1873 - 4 July 1934 / Radi, Volhynia)
The Old Acacia Tree
- by Hayyim Nahman Bialik 48
Neither daylight nor the darknessSee how silently I wander.
Not on mountain, nor in valley,
Does an old acacia ponder.
The acacia solves all mysteries,
Tells my fortune while I tarry.
I shall ask the tree to tell me
Whom O whom, am I to marry?
Where will he be from, O Acacia,
Is it Poland, Lithuania?
Will he come with a horse and a carriage
Or with staff and sack will he appear?
And what presents will be bring me -
Necklace of pearls and coral flower?
Tell me, will he be fair or dark-haired?
Still unmarried or a widower?
If he's old, my dear Acacia,
I won't have him, please don't try me.
I'll tell my father; you may slay me,
But to an old man do not tie me!
At his feet I'll fall and with tears I'll cry;
To an old man do not tie me.
One, Two
- by Hayyim Nahman Bialik 36
One, two, three, four —find yourself a wife — choose her!
Do not dally, don't be late
or someone else'll get there first.
I myself found me some honey
but it never came to my lips.
Two she had her, this one widow:
one brunette and one had fair hair.
Not girls-pearls,
fillies fine and gorgeous,
the joy of whoever saw their face
and I loved both of them.
But who'll foretell and who'll say
which of them I loved more.
The time went, I don't know how
I dillydallied, dillydallied.
Suddenly a demon came and scarfed them
a demon with a ponytail and handlebar mustache.
And I remained, silly bugger,
an old bachelor ever after.
And from this to all the young men
a moral to the wise and let who learns learn.
One, two, three, four —
find yourself a wife — choose her!
Do not dally, don't be late
or someone else'll get there first.