Monday, February 12, 2007

An Elegy for the Gaon of Vilna by Grisha of Staten Island, NY



As the sun of the third month shines,
Snow melts away,
And the earth is uncovered,
Awaken and revived from its winter slumber.

The bright blue sky along with its warm, flowing breeze,
Helps set the course of nature to thrive,
But still I am inside,
Still not ready to arise.

Since you’ve departed from the land of the Litvaks,
Life for me cannot continue on,
Still lying in bed, calling out to you,
Still frozen in my slumber, longing for you.

Since you can only be found in dreams,
As no longer on this earth can you be with me.

4 comments:

Greg S said...

oh my G-d! I can't believe you still had that saved! If it wasn't for my Korean lit class with Young-Key Kim Renau I don't think I would've ever created such a work.

frenchpresse said...

I LOVE IT!!!

Dave said...

didn't the Gra write a math theorem?

Elissa said...

Yes, like so many 22 year old boys, the loss of the Gaon of Vilna haunts him daily. Classic. It caused me to Harken back to the days of Yiddish class, and the constant background music of Romania, Romania...