Jori, Warm the Earth lyrics and meaning

Jori, šildyk žamį,
Jori, palaisk rasų,
Jori, palaisk žolį,

Jori, nežanytas,
Jori apsižanyk,
Nėra, par man mergų,

Tiktai viena rožė,
Ir ta darži auga,
Tuinu aptaiasyta,

Vandeniu ažlaista,
Rūtom apsodyta,
Tuiną palaužysiu,

Vandenį išlaisiu,
Rūteles išrausiu,
Rožį sau paimsiu.

Jori, Warm the Earth — second version lyrics

Jori, šildyk žamį, Jori, šildyk žamį

Jori, palaisk žoly
Jori, palaisk rasų
Jori, nežanytas
Jori, apsižanyk
Nera pa man mergų
Tiktai viena rožė
Ir ta darži auga
Tuinu aptaisyta
Rūtom apsodyta
Vandeniu užlaista
Tuinu palaužysiu
Rūtelas išrausiu
Vandenį išlaisiu
Rožį sau paimsiu

Jori, Warm the Earth: song interpretation

This dialect song with the refrain "Jori" can be understood as a springtime courtship song. At the beginning Jori is called to warm the earth, release the dew, and release the grass. These images can be read as spring awakening, which the song links with the season of marriage.

The address then turns to an unmarried young man, urging him to marry, but he says he has no girls, only one rose growing in the garden. The rose is surrounded by a tuinas, a fence, watered, and planted around with rue. These images can be understood as a guarded, chosen young woman, while the rue marks her chastity.

The young man promises to break the fence, spill out the water, pull up the rue, and take the rose for himself. This resolve can be interpreted as his determination to overcome obstacles and win the one chosen girl. That is one possible meaning, but the motifs of spring and courtship are clear.

Jori, Warm the Earth: symbols and phrases

"Jori, warm the earth"
A refrain calling for the earth to warm and nature to rise. It marks spring awakening and the time for marriage.
Rose in the garden
The single rose desired by the young man. It represents the chosen young woman.
Tuinas
A fence around the rose. It marks the obstacle protecting the girl.
Rue around the rose
Rue planted around the rose marks the girl's chastity, which the suitor intends to cross.

Jori, Warm the Earth: song history

"Jori, Warm the Earth" belongs to courtship and love songs in which spring awakening is linked with the time for marriage. The refrain "Jori" beginning each line, together with the call to warm the earth and release dew and grass, creates a ritual, invocatory opening; the song then turns to the unmarried young man and the single rose growing in the garden, a motif typical of songs of wooing.

The exact recording place and time are not given on this page, so the song is presented through genre traits; the text is written in dialect forms such as "žamį," "palaisk," "nežanytas," and "tuinas." The image of overcoming the protected, fenced rose, breaking the fence, spilling the water, and uprooting the rue, symbolically conveys winning the girl.

sources

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

Jori, Warm the Earth: sources