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Many moons ago, I used the Calvert curriculum for something like 3rd-8th grade. I remember reading a poem about two brothers who had very different philosophies about how to accomplish their goals; each ended up ruining the other's work. I believe the last stanza went like this:

Across the sea, the wide, wide sea
Two brothers are breaking their hearts.

I feel like there was another line where one brother laments

"My blood, my sweat, my tears."

Does anybody remember the poem? I have not been able to find it online.

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The Two Brothers by Isaac Leib Peretz, originally written in Yiddish. Mentioned as “Di tsvey brider (fun fremdn khupe-kleyd)” (The two brothers, from “Strange Wedding Gown”) on Yiddish Leksikon.

Searching for "My blood, my sweat, my tears! " "Over the sea" on Google books shows some fragments of it.

On the other side of the wide blue sea
Stood a house that was simple and pretty and wee.
It hid in the valley, a humble cot
Of logs and clay in a hidden spot.
Each day the sun would flush with gold
A little window quaint and old.
And the moon would rise,
And its clear, pure eyes
Would paint the panes with silver.
And love was the blessing that Heaven sent
To the brothers who lived there in content.

[...]

And joy is dead, and sleep is done,
And love is away and forever gone.
One cries—“My wealth, my dream of years!”
The other—“My blood, my sweat, my tears!”
Over the sea,
The wide blue sea,
Two brothers are breaking their hearts.

Details added based on the investigative work mentioned in the comments.

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  • It's a poem by Isaac Leib Peretz originally written in Yiddish. (The second result on your Google books link shows the poem "translated by Jacob Robbins", and searching for that in turn gives a 404 page whose Google preview is helpful.
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 12:18
  • It's also mentioned on this page as “Di tsvey brider (fun fremdn khupe-kleyd)” (The two brothers, from “Strange Wedding Gown”).
    – Rand al'Thor
    Commented Jan 11, 2019 at 12:21
  • Thanks so much! My Google-fu was foiled, but I bow before the masters.
    – elutionary
    Commented Jan 12, 2019 at 19:16

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