Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

DER YIDDISH-VINKL June 10, 2005

Once more Joan Braman returns to Der Vinkl with her translation of English classics into Yiddish. Except this time, the English poet is really a Scot named Robert Burns (1759-1796).

One of seven children born to a hard-working and very intelligent farmer and his wife, Burns was truly a people’s poet. He never hesitated to poke fun at the elitist snobs,and he found truly noble qualities in the common folk who lived by their labor, as we see in the following excerpt from one of his poems.

For A’ That and A’ That

Is there for honest poverty

That hings his head an’ a’ that?

The coward-slave we pass him by,

We dare be poor for a’ that!

For a’ that an’ a’ that

Our toil’s obscure, and a’ that;

The rank is but the guinea’s stamp;

The man’s the gowd for a’ that!

What tho’ on hamely fare we dine,

Wear hoddin’ grey, an’ a’ that

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,

A man’s a man for a’ that.

For a’ that an a’ that

Their tinsel show an’ a’ that

The honest man, tho e’er sae poor,

Is king o’ men for a’ that…

Then let us pray that come it may,

As come it will for a’ that;

That sense and worth, o’er a’ the earth

May bear the gree, an’ a’ that,

For a’ that and a’ that

It’s coming yet, for a’ that,

That man to man the warld o’er

Shall brothers be for a’ that.

Un Dos Iz Dos, Un Dos Iz Alts

Hura! A loyb tsu oremkayt,

Vos shemt zikh nit, un halt zikh shtolts!

Der padkhen-shklaf farmaydn zolst,

Tsu orem zayn iz nit kayn zind!

Un dos iz ats, un dos iz alts

Tsu horeven, yo dos iz alts;

Tsi arbetsman, tsi balebos,

Der mentsch iz goldn, un dos iz alts.

Tsi arbetsman, tsi balebos

Der mentsch iz goldn, un dos iz alts.

A raykher man me darf nit zayn

Oysgefaynt un oysgeputst;

Nit neytik zaydns oder vayn.

Der mentsch iz vert zayn mentshlekhkayt

Un dos iz dos, nit mer vi dos.

Far naronim iz der maskerarad;

An erlekher man, khotsh oreman,

A keynig iz, un dos iz alts.

Lomir hofn az s’vet kumen a tsayt,

Un kumen vet, un dos iz alts,

Ven khokhme un vert iber al der erd,

Veln hershen shoyn, un dos iz alts.

Un dos iz alts, un dos iz alts

Kumen vet, un kumen bald,

Ven mentsch mit mentsch der velt arum

Veln brider zayn, un dos iz alts.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.