I Sowed Flax lyrics and meaning

Aš pasėjau linelius
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Man išdygo lineliai
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Man išaugo lineliai
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Man pražydo lineliai
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Aš nuroviau linelius
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Aš parvežiau linelius
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Aš išmyniau linelius
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Aš suverpiau linelius
Tėtušėlio daržely.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

Aš išaudžiau drobeles
Iš tėtušio darželio.
Ritin dobil, ritin dobil,
Ritin dobil, je.

I Sowed Flax: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a work song that follows the path of flax from sowing to woven linen. The flax sown in the father's garden sprouts, grows, blossoms, is pulled, brought home, broken, spun, and finally woven into cloth. The refrain "Ritin dobil" rhythmically accompanies every stage.

This complete listing of the work cycle is typical of flax songs, where raw material gradually becomes useful fabric. The process can be read as giving meaning to women's labor and patience, because flax processing required extensive handwork over a long period.

At the same time, the song has an almost magical, incantatory quality: each stanza seems to ensure that the work will succeed and be brought to completion. It can be understood as maintaining work rhythm and good fortune through song. This is one possible meaning, but the honoring of the flax-processing cycle is clear.

I Sowed Flax: symbols and phrases

Flax
The plant from which thread is spun and linen is woven. It is the axis and object of the whole song.
Father's garden
The father's plot where the flax is sown and grown. It marks the native home and the work space.
"Ritin dobil"
A rhythmic refrain accompanying every work stage. It helps maintain the work tempo and the song's sound.
Linen cloth
The fabric woven from flax, the final result of the work. It crowns the whole transformation from raw material to textile.

I Sowed Flax: song history

"I Sowed Flax" belongs to work songs that steadily follow the path of flax from sowing to cloth. Each stanza adds a new stage of flax processing: I sowed, it sprouted, grew, blossomed, I pulled it, brought it home, broke it, spun it, wove it. The rhythmic refrain "Ritin dobil, ritin dobil, ritin dobil, je" joins all the stanzas and helps sustain the work tempo. This chain-like, accumulative structure is characteristic of flax work songs, in which a raw material gradually becomes useful fabric.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on the page, so the song is presented by genre. The action takes place in the "father's garden," marking the native home, while the orderly naming of the whole cycle has an almost incantatory character, as if each stanza ensures that the work will succeed and be completed. Similar flax-song variants are known in different regions of Lithuania.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

I Sowed Flax: sources