Dear Nemunas Hurries lyrics and meaning

Skuba mielas Nemunėlis,
Graitai bėga iš rytų.
Jo skraudusis vandenėlis
Plaudža žamę lietuvių /2×2

Graitai bėga, nesustoja
Per lygiausius laukelius,
Apie brolius pasakoja
Vilniaus krašto brolalius. /2×2

Teka jis per tąją šalį,
Teka sodžius, miesčukus,
Nors padėti jiems negali.
Kad likimas jų sunkus. /2×2

Tu nurimkie, Nemunėli,
O, neverkie taip gailiai:
Štai jau šviečia rytmetėlio
Naujo ryto spinduliai. /2×2

Girdi Nemunas, vis girdi
Raudą brolių pavergtų,
Ir kankina jojo širdį
Šimtai tūkstančių raudų. /2×2

Vilniaus amžams neužmiršim,
Čia mūs brolių ateitis,
Nors kovodami ir mirsim,
Tik tada nurims širdis. /2×2

Dear Nemunas Hurries: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a patriotic song about the Nemunas and the Vilnius region. At the beginning, the dear Nemunas hurries, runs quickly from the east, and its sorrowful water washes Lithuanian land. This image can be interpreted as the river as a witness of the nation.

The Nemunas then runs across fields, villages, and small towns, telling about the brothers of the Vilnius region, whom it cannot help because their fate is hard. These images can be understood as an allusion to the separated, subjugated Vilnius region.

At the end, the Nemunas hears the lament of enslaved brothers; hundreds of thousands of laments torment its heart, and it is declared that Vilnius will never be forgotten, even if the people die fighting. These images can be interpreted as a resolve not to forget Vilnius and to struggle for it. This is one possible meaning, but the patriotic motif of the Vilnius region and the Nemunas is clear in the song.

Dear Nemunas Hurries: symbols and phrases

Nemunas running from the east
The river hurrying across Lithuania. It signifies a national witness and symbol.
Enslaved brothers of the Vilnius region
The people of the separated Vilnius region. They signify the lost, occupied land.
Nemunas's lament
The lament of brothers tormenting the river's heart. It signifies national grief.
"We will never forget Vilnius"
The resolve not to forget Vilnius even in death. It signifies a national oath.

Dear Nemunas Hurries: song history

"Dear Nemunas Hurries" belongs to interwar patriotic songs arising from the loss of the Vilnius region. In 1920, Vilnius and its region were occupied by Poland, and until 1939 they were separated from Lithuania; songs of this kind expressed hope of recovering the capital, and the slogan not to forget Vilnius was widespread throughout interwar Lithuania. The song is built as an address to the Nemunas, turning the river into a witness of the nation: it runs from the east, hears the lament of enslaved brothers, and carries it through the whole country.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on the page, so the song is presented by genre. By style, with literary language, regular stanza, and repeated refrain markings, it most likely belongs to early twentieth-century patriotic songs of authored origin that were widely sung by the people. The final vow, "we will never forget Vilnius... even if we die fighting," links it with motifs of resolve in military-historical songs.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • D. Krištopaitė. Lithuanian Military-Historical Songs, Vilnius 1956
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Dear Nemunas Hurries: sources