As I wander through my family tree
There is one thing that puzzles me
About the spelling of our last name
Is it Szymanske or Semanske
My Great Uncle Eward Semenske
Now there's a switch
I lay awake in my bed
As this question wanders through my head
And as I pray to god
That when I am before his holy name
Greeting those who changed our nam
Let me hit the clods
An interesting unique poem super cool to read. Yeah surnames tend to be changed. For instance many english surnames denoted the professions so the descendants changed them if the profession seened a bit nit to high standard for example shoemaker to Schumacher. But I find szymanske nicer coz its more poetic to me. Pls do coment ny latest poem too. Titled Ashura
That when I am before his holy name Greeting those who changed our nam Let me hit the clods..... a very nice poem.which goes down the history through the world war and the memories of the lost great ones of your family. very nice dedication. so thoughtful a poem. love it. tony
it could be gyminsky now like my once shipmate ... names changes continues because of lots of things esp if you come to america they try to americanize it...
You are correct but when I was researching my Great Uncle Edward I found that in the late nineteenth to early twentieth century a lot of name changes were the result of ethnic stereotypes. Germans for example could not get hired because employers viewed them as being too radical in their thinking and leading the labor movement. During World War I, before us involvement, A lot of Germans changed their names because of the sentiment towards Germany. Here in Milwaukee a Bartender is quoted as saying An Irishmen is more welcome than a German providing he can pay his own way. If you have time some time look up a video called the Immigrant experience, . It is about the rift developed between them during World War I and is very interesting. In my families case, apparently, it was spelled Szymanske in Germany or when they came over the officials spelled it for them. The Waukesha, Wi county plats spell it that way but the church records spelled it Siemienske. My Grandfathers draft notice spelled it Szymanske but Edwards was spelled Semenske like it is today. My Great Grandparents gravestones read Semenske (died around 1928) but My Grandfather had the name changed officially in 1939. On the Storm Memorial in Wisconsin Rapids Wi, my Great Uncles name is again spelled differently.So I guess until then it had no definitive spelling
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
A refined poetic imagination, David S. You may like to read my poem, Love And Lust. Thank you.