Abraham Sutzkever’s “The Blade of Grass from Ponar”
Chalbert * Track #1 On CHalbertA3
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Abraham Sutzkever’s “The Blade of Grass from Ponar” by Chalbert
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SOAPSTONE Summary:
Speaker: The speaker is a Christian (or possibly Jewish) man originally from Lithuania. Now I am actually thinking the speaker is Jewish.
Occasion: The occasion may be that the speaker is telling a life story to a stranger or sharing his story with a child. He also may just be t...
Abraham Sutzkever’s “The Blade of Grass from Ponar” Annotated
TRANSLATED BY MAIA EVRONA
I kept a letter from my hometown in Lithuania, from one
who still holds a dominion somewhere with her youthful charm.
In it she placed her sorrow and her affection:
A blade of grass from Ponar.
This blade of grass with a flickering puff of dying cloud
ignited, letter by letter, the faces of the letters.
And over letter-faces in murmuring smolder:
The blade of grass from Ponar.
This blade of grass is now my world, my miniature home,
where children play the fiddle in a line on fire.
They play the fiddle and legendary is their conductor:
The blade of grass from Ponar.
I will not separate from my hometown’s blade of grass.
My good, longed-for earth will make room for both.
And then I will bring a gift to the Lord:
The blade of grass from Ponar.
Translated from the Yiddish