Bialik prophesies in rage in the wake of the 1905 Odessa pogrom.
I Know
By Haim Nahman Bialik
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
I know on some misted night I will wink out suddenly as a star
And not a star shall know my grave
But in my aftermath my wrath shall smoke on like a volcano
After its fires expire.
It will dwell among you so long as thunder rings the zodiac
And waves rage ocean-wide.
O let your mighty sorrow be held too tight, so tight
In the bosom of all the world
That the wilderness of the sky, the wilderness of earth,
Their stars and their grasses,
Drink their fill of it,
That it might live in them, quicken them, grow old and grow anew with them
Wither like them, return hither like them and blossom again;
Let that sorrow, formless and nameless and groundless, bear
Witness, unto the final generation, of your iniquity;
Let it shriek wordless and voiceless, to all hell and to all heaven
To block the world's redemption.
And when, come the end of days, the two-faced sun of fraudulent justice shines
On the graves of your slaughtered
And the banner of revolting blandishment, dyed in your blood, flies shameless
In the face of the heavens and over your slaughterer's heads
And the counterfeit seal of God carved on the banner
Gouges the sun's eyes,
When the prideful dance and pomp of the festival of lies
Rattles your holy bones down in the tomb-
When the firmament's splendor trembles and goes dark of a sudden with your sorrow,
When with the stain of your pure blood the sun has set
The Mark of Cain upon the brow of the world,
The mark of failure on the broken arm of the Lord,
When star cries quaking to star —behold the lie almighty —
Behold us in our sorrow —
Then, then shall the God of Vengeance arise,
Roaring with wounded heart,
And with his great sword
Stride forth.
The Original:
I Know
By Haim Nahman Bialik
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
I know on some misted night I will wink out suddenly as a star
And not a star shall know my grave
But in my aftermath my wrath shall smoke on like a volcano
After its fires expire.
It will dwell among you so long as thunder rings the zodiac
And waves rage ocean-wide.
O let your mighty sorrow be held too tight, so tight
In the bosom of all the world
That the wilderness of the sky, the wilderness of earth,
Their stars and their grasses,
Drink their fill of it,
That it might live in them, quicken them, grow old and grow anew with them
Wither like them, return hither like them and blossom again;
Let that sorrow, formless and nameless and groundless, bear
Witness, unto the final generation, of your iniquity;
Let it shriek wordless and voiceless, to all hell and to all heaven
To block the world's redemption.
And when, come the end of days, the two-faced sun of fraudulent justice shines
On the graves of your slaughtered
And the banner of revolting blandishment, dyed in your blood, flies shameless
In the face of the heavens and over your slaughterer's heads
And the counterfeit seal of God carved on the banner
Gouges the sun's eyes,
When the prideful dance and pomp of the festival of lies
Rattles your holy bones down in the tomb-
When the firmament's splendor trembles and goes dark of a sudden with your sorrow,
When with the stain of your pure blood the sun has set
The Mark of Cain upon the brow of the world,
The mark of failure on the broken arm of the Lord,
When star cries quaking to star —behold the lie almighty —
Behold us in our sorrow —
Then, then shall the God of Vengeance arise,
Roaring with wounded heart,
And with his great sword
Stride forth.
The Original:
יָדַעְתִּי, בְּלֵיל עֲרָפֶל כַּכּוֹכָב אֶכְבֶּה פִתְאֹם
וְלֹא יֵדַע כּוֹכָב אֶת-קְבוּרָתִי,
וְאוּלָם חֲרוֹנִי עוֹד יֶעְשַׁן אַחֲרַי כְּפִי הַר-פְּרָצִים
אַחֲרֵי כְבוֹת לַהֲבוֹ,
וִיחִי בֵינֵיכֶם כָּל-עוֹד יְמֵי הָרַעַם בַּגַּלְגַּל
וְזַעַף גַּלִּים בְּאֻקְיָנוֹס.
הָהּ, מִי יִתֵּן וְיֵאָצֵר גַּם יְגוֹנְכֶם הַגָּדוֹל
בְּחֵיק הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ,
וְרָווּ מִמֶּנּוּ עַרְבוֹת שָׁמַיִם וְעַרְבוֹת שָׂדַי,
כּוֹכָבִים וּדְשָׁאִים,
וְחַי בָּהֶם, וִיפַעֲמֵם, וְנוֹשַׁן וְהִתְחַדֵּשׁ עִמָּם,
וּכְמוֹהֶם יִבֹּל וְיָשׁוּב וְיִפְרָח,
וּבְלֹא-שֵׁם וּבְלֹא-דְמוּת וּבְלֹא אֶרֶץ מוֹלֶדֶת
לְעֵד חֲמַסְכֶם עַד-דּוֹר אַחֲרוֹן יַעֲמֹד,
וּבְלֹא קוֹל וּדְבָרִים אֶל-הַשְּׁאוֹל וְאֶל-הַשָּׁמַיִם יִצְעַק
וִיעַכֵּב אֶת-גְּאֻלַּת הָעוֹלָם;
וּבִזְרֹחַ לְקֵץ הַיָּמִים שֶׁמֶשׁ רְמִיָּה שֶׁל צִדְקַת שָׁוְא
עַל קִבְרֵי חַלְלֵיכֶם,
וְנֵס הַחֲנֻפָּה, חֲמוּץ דְּמֵיכֶם, בְּחֻצְפָּה כְלַפֵּי שָׁמַיִם
עַל-רָאשֵׁי זֹבְחֵיכֶם יִתְנוֹפֵף,
וְחוֹתַם אֱלֹהִים הַמְזֻיָּף חָרוּת עַל-הַנֵּס
אֶת-עֵינֵי הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יְנַקֵּר,
וּמְחוֹל רֶגֶל גַּאֲוָה וּתְרוּעַת חַג הַשֶּׁקֶר יְזַעְזְעוּ
אֶת-עַצְמוֹתֵיכֶם הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת בַּקָּבֶר –
וְרָעַד זֹהַר הָרָקִיעַ וְקָדַר פִּתְאֹם בִּיגוֹנְכֶם,
וְנֶהְפַּךְ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לְכֶתֶם דִּמְכֶם הַנָּקִי,
אוֹת קַיִן עַל מֵצַח הָעוֹלָם וְאוֹת כִּשָּׁלוֹן
לִזְרֹעַ אֱלֹהִים הַשְּׁבוּרָה,
וְכוֹכָב אֶל-כּוֹכָב יֶחֱרָד: הִנֵּה הַשֶּׁקֶר הַנּוֹרָא!
הִנֵּה הַיָּגוֹן הַגָּדוֹל!
וְאֵל נְקָמוֹת, פָּצוּעַ בִּלְבָבוֹ, יָקוּם וְיִשְׁאָג –
וּבְחַרְבּוֹ הַגְּדוֹלָה יֵצֵא
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