I Had a White Rose lyrics and meaning

Aš turėjau baltą rožę, baltą rožę,
nežinojau, kur sodinti, kur sodin(ti).

Sodinau an marių kranto, marių kranto,
aukštan kopų kalnužėly, kalnužė(ly).

Jir užaugo balta rožė, balta rožė
ligi pačių debesėlių, debesė(lių).

Kopiau, kopiau rožės šakom, rožės šakom
jir pasiekiau Dievo sodą, Dievo so(dą).

Aš regėjau Dievo sūnų, Dievo sūnų,
baltą žirgą balnojantį, balnojan(tį).

Saulės dukra vartus vėrė, vartus vėrė,
žvaigždėm kelią barstydama, barstyda(ma).

Aš turėjau baltą rožę, baltą rožę,
jir pasiekiau Dievo sodą, Dievo so(dą).

I Had a White Rose: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a mythological, cosmic song about a path to heaven. The narrator has a white rose and does not know where to plant it until it is planted on the shore of the lagoon, on a high dune hill. The white rose grows up to the clouds themselves, becoming like a world tree that joins earth and sky.

Climbing by the rose branches, the narrator reaches God's garden. There he sees the Son of God saddling a white horse and the Daughter of the Sun opening the gates while scattering the road with stars. These images can be interpreted as reflections of old Baltic mythology, where heavenly deities, the Sons of God and the Daughter of the Sun, live in the sky as in one household.

The song probably preserves a very archaic worldview in which a tree or plant is a road between worlds and the heavenly bodies are imagined as a family. That is one possible meaning, but the link with mythological, celestial imagery is especially strong here.

I Had a White Rose: symbols and phrases

White rose
The rose growing to the clouds resembles a world tree that connects earth and heaven. By it the narrator ascends to God's garden.
God's garden
A heavenly space reached by the rose branches. It marks the otherworldly realm of divine beings.
Son of God
A heavenly deity saddling a white horse, linked with the divine sons of old Baltic mythology.
Daughter of the Sun
A celestial maiden who opens the gates and scatters the road with stars, a frequent figure in mythological songs.

I Had a White Rose: song history

This song belongs to the old mythological layer of Lithuanian songs, where archaic images of the sky have survived: the Son of God, the Daughter of the Sun, and a road strewn with stars. Folklorists connect such motifs with so-called heavenly wedding or heavenly family mythologemes, in which the sun, moon, and stars are imagined as celestial bodies bound by kinship. The plant that grows up to the clouds and is climbed into the sky recalls the world tree image known in many Baltic and other Indo-European traditions.

The exact place and time of recording for this particular song are not given on the page, so it is presented by genre traits. The composition is built on gradual ascent, from planting the white rose by the water to reaching God's garden, while the repeated half-line doubling gives the text an oral, almost incantatory movement.

sources

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

I Had a White Rose: sources