For as long as I have been acquainted with them, the poems in which the above lines occur have held a peculiar fascination for me. With their rhythmic refrains, Glatshteyn′s “Der Rayzeman” (“The Travelman”), Halpern′s “Der Gasnpoyker” (“The Street Drummer”), and Manger′s “Eynzam” (“Lonely”) are lodged in my mind,1 cropping up periodically in almost–and in the case of “Eynzam,” literally–musical form. Yet it is only recently that I have come to see a special connection between these three diverse works. The present article explores this connection. Specifically, I wish to address the function of repetition and show how a much-used poetic device simultaneously points to a psychological realm otherwise easy to ignore.