Shnei Shoshanim (Two Roses)

Articles

Shnei Shoshanim (Two Roses)

By Thomas Keyes
Nov. 10, 2008

One of the most beautiful songs that I know in Hebrew or any language is Shnei Shoshanim (Two Roses). I have not heard it sung by others a great many times, as I learned it from a book of Hebrew songs that I found in the Lincoln Center Library in New York City in the 1980's.

Hebrew is a beautiful language, and I know more songs in Hebrew than in any other language, perhaps 25 in all. But there are only a couple that I'd rank with Shnei Shoshanim. It was composed by Mordechai Ze'ira with lyrics by Ya'akov Orland, around 1942.

Here is the transcription into English letters of the Hebrew text, provided by www.HebrewSongs.com :

Ashir lach shir atik, noshan.
Ashir lach zémer al shoshan.
Hayo hayu lifnei shanim
Shnei shoshanim, shnei shoshanim.
Haya ze kvar rachok hayom.
Echad lavan, sheni adom.

Bnei gan echad, kishnei achim,
Tsimchu ale, tsimchu chochim.
Et ba habóker tschor gavan,
Pakach einayim halavan,
Ve'érev ba verad hayom.
Atsam einayim ha'adom.

Uvaleilot, uvaleilot,
Nashvu ruchot bam kalilot.
Ko livlevu ad ba'a yad,
Yad shekatfa shoshan echad.
Ve'ein yodé'a ad hayom
Et halavan o ha'adom.

Verak yod'im ki hanotar,
Libo nishbar, libo nishbar.
Hayo hayu lifnei shanim
Shnei shoshanim, shnei shoshanim.
Haya ze kvar rachok hayom.
Echad lavan, sheni adom.

The pronunciation follows the usual method for modern transcriptions from foreign languages, with vowels just like Spanish. Something to note is that 'ch' is as in German rather than English. This is a single letter in Hebrew, Also, all words of 2 or more syllables are accented on the last syllable, except where I have indicated elsewise by placing an accent mark, but these accent marks do not actually appear in Hebrew.

For those who can read them, here are the lyrics in Hebrew:

http://www.shiron.net/songView.aspx?song_id=3110&singer_id=945&song_title=4d965

Here is a link to a video, with the song gorgeously sung by Esther Ofarim. At my present location, in Perú, my reception of the video is not very good. I hope that others will be able to hear the beautiful song more clearly.

http://www.esther-ofarim.de/shnay.htm#video

As for the translation, my Hebrew is good enough that I can translate it myself, but the translation provided by www.HebrewSongs.com is very faithful to the original Hebrew lyrics, so I have merely copied it, editing it with a few minor changes:

Two Roses

I'll sing you an ancient song.
I'll sing you a tune about a rose,
A song from way back when.
Two roses, two roses!
That day was long ago.
One was white, the other red.

Children of one garden. like brother and sister,
They grew leaves, they grew thorns.
The time came, the morning a pale shade,
The white opened its eyes.
And evening came and the day went down.
The red closed its eyes.

And in the nights, and in the nights,
Winds blew on them softly.
So they sprouted till a hand came,
A hand that picked one rose,
It remains unknown till this very day,
Whether the white or the red.

They only know of the one that's left
Its heart is broken, its heart is broken.
A song from way back when.
Two roses, two roses!
That day was long ago.
One was white, the other red.

I apologize for not having or being able to find the sheet music.

------------

About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far.

I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents.

Visit my website here.

Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com

Comment on this article here!

------------

All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED!