Could the various spellings (donna - dona) be a clue that the song was NOT written (at least for something as formal as a play)? I always wanted to say 'dough nah' for the spelling dona and don nah for the donna spelling. Could dona (with what I perceive to be a long O) be a more authentic word, coming from the Yiddish tradition? Donna seems like a way to make us english speakers more omfortable with dona. Anyone follow this?

I always loved the song. The calf was such a sad image. It fits perfectly as a song of people fearing they could be "...bound and slaughtered"