Songbird, or Six Folk Songs

Pesach-Elijah Badkhn

1871

(The songs)
It frightens us so,
With our poor wares to go
And face the wide world and its scorn.
We have lived many days,
But know only the ways.
Of the villages where we were born.
(The author)
You’ve got nothing to fear,
Just go straight out from here—
You’ll find friendship in towns big and small.
The villager’s art,
If it’s clever and smart
Won’t be looked down on at all.
(The songs)
Still, we fear to depart:
Who will have the kind heart
To provide us with lodging and rest?
The learned, we know,
Will tell us to go.
We’ll be lodged with poor badkhns at best.
(The author)
If only you knew:
Books more foolish than you,
Belong to the rich upper class.
Their spines, I am told,
All have letters of gold
And their bookshelves have doors made of glass.
(The songs)
Yet we fear we’ll be shamed;
By Hasidim—defamed,
And denounced where maskilim hold sway.
For the one—not Hasidish,
For the other—too Yiddish.
So they’ll both want us out of the way.

Translated by
Solon
Beinfeld
.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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Creator Bio

Pesach-Elijah Badkhn

19th Century

Dubbed the “Genius of Jesters,” Pesach-Elijah Badkhn was a playful troubadour who traveled to Minsk, Vilna, and elsewhere performing original Yiddish melodies. Like the characters in his songs, he straddled worlds: religious and secular, serious and comic. For years, he avoided publishing his lyrics, though he finally grew tired of rival singers stealing his songs and decided to claim credit for them in print. Pesach-Elijah performed around the Pale of Settlement, traveling widely as his fame and songbook expanded.

Related Guide

Music and Opera in Jewish Culture, 1750–1880

One of the most striking changes in European Jewish culture toward the later eighteenth century was marked by the entry of Jews into art music, opera houses, and the stage.

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