אַמעריקע די פּרעכטיקע | America the Beautiful, a patriotic hymn by Katharine Lee Bates (1895) with Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1950)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription), Berl Lapin (translation) and Katharine Lee Bates

Shared on:

26 December 2019 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Independence Day (July 4th)

Tags:

Yiddish songs, American Jewry of the United States, Patriotic hymns, doikayt, hereness, 19th century C.E., United States, זמירות zemirot, 57th century A.M., Yiddish translation

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Translation (Yiddish)	Source (English)
אַמעריקע די פּרעכטיקע	America the Beautiful
אָ, פּרעכטיקע, מיט הימלען ברײט, מיט זאנגען װי בורשטין; מיט שטאָלצע פּורפּור־בערג צעזײט אױף פעלדער פרוכפּער־גרין; אַמעריקע, אַמעריקע, גאָטס חסד קרױנט דײן שטאם, שפרײט גוטס און קראפט פון ברודערשאפט פון ים ביז העלן ים!—	O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!
אָ, פּרעכטיקע, װאו פּילגרים האָט באגײסטערט אומגעשפּאנט, פאר פרײהײט־גליק געקעמפט זײן טראָט אין װיסטעניש פון לאנד! אַמעריקע, אַמעריקע, װאש אָפּ, גאָט, יעדן פלעק, — נשמה־דײן זאָל הערשער זײן, און פרײהײט־רעכט — דײן װעג!	O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law!
אָ, פּרעכטיקע, ס׳קלינגט מעשהדיק פאר אונדז דײן פרײהײט־שלאכט! די בראװקײט דינט דעם מענטשנס גליק, פאר מענטש זיך אומגעבראכט! אַמעריקע, אַמעריקע, אָ, גאָט, דײן גאָלד מאך רײן; צום גליק־דערפאָלג זאָל הערלעך פאָלק דורך מענטשלעכקײט דערגײן.	O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved And mercy more than life! America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine!
אָ, פּרעכטיקע, װאו קעמפער זעט זײן צוקונפט־טרױם צעהעלט, װי ס׳בלאנקען ציכטיק דײנע שטעט, פון טרױער ניט פארשטעלט. אַמעריקע, אַמעריקע, גאָטם חסד קרױנט דײן שטאם, שפּרײט גוטס און קראפט פון ברודערשאפט פון ים ביז העלן ים!	O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears! America! America! God shed His grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

This is “America the Beautiful,” the patriotic hymn (1911 version) by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929) in its Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1889-1952). The transcription here was made from the text published in Der fuler ḳrug lider-zamlung (1950), p. 259. The song can be found in the supplements section of some 20th century prayerbooks, such as the Sabbath Prayer Book of the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation (1945).

We are very grateful to Samantha Zerin who identifies Berl Lapin as the translator for this song. (Thank you!) –Aharon Varady

Source(s)

. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike . 4.0 . International .

“אַמעריקע די פּרעכטיקע | America the Beautiful, a patriotic hymn by Katharine Lee Bates (1895) with Yiddish translation by Berl Lapin (1950)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Berl Lapin (translation)

Berl Lapin (1889–1952) was a Yiddish poet and translator. Born in Grodno, he lived in Argentina 1905–09 and 1913–17 and in the U.S. 1909–13, before settling in New York in 1917. His first lyric collection Umetige Vegn ("Sad Ways," 1910) was completed in Vilna, where he had come under he influence of Chaim Zhitlowsky (as whose personal secretary he served) and the literary group Di Yunge. His excellence as a stylist is reflected in his translations of Shakespeare's Sonnets, Russian lyrics, and American poems, and his collected poems Der Fuler Krug ("The Full Pitcher," 1950).

Katharine Lee Bates

Katharine Lee Bates (August 12, 1859 – March 28, 1929) was a prolific American writer, college professor, scholar, and social activist. Although she published volumes of poetry, travel books, essays, children's books, books for young adults, and editions of many earlier writers' works, today Bates is primarily remembered as the author of "America the Beautiful". While on the Wellesley College faculty, Bates mentored many young poets (including some, like Robert Frost, not enrolled at Wellesley) and helped establish American literature as a field for college study by creating an early course on the genre and writing a textbook for the field (the first woman to do the latter).

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17