Linden Tree, Sighing Mother lyrics and meaning

Ei tu, liepele užuonėle,
: Ūžavai rytą, vakarėlį:

Ūžavai rytą, vakarėlį,
: Lig išūžavai devynias šakas:

Lig išūžavai devynias šakas,
:O šią dešimtą --- viršūnėlę :

Visas devynias- vėtružė laužė,
:Bent, dievai, laikyk viršūnėlę :

O nors gegelei įsitūpti,
: Ryts vakarėlis pakukuoti:

Ei tu, močiute dūsuonėle,
:Dūsavai rytą, vakarėlį:

Dūsavai rytą, vakarėlį,
: Lig užauginai devynis sūnus :

Lig užauginai devynis sūnus,
: O šią dešimtą dukrytėlę:

Visi devyni-krygužę jojo,
: Bent, dievai, laikyk dukrytėlę:

O nors galvelę paieškoti,
: Rūsčią širdelę suraminti :

Linden Tree, Sighing Mother: song interpretation

This song can be understood as pairing a linden tree with a mother, and the tree's branches with her children. At the beginning, the song addresses a little linden that rustled morning and evening until it had rustled out nine branches and a tenth top. All nine branches are broken by the storm, but God is asked to preserve at least the top, so that a cuckoo might have a place to perch and call in the morning and evening.

In the second part, the same image is transferred to the sighing mother, who sighed morning and evening until she raised nine sons and a tenth little daughter. All nine sons ride to war, and again God is asked to preserve at least the daughter. This parallelism can be read as the mother's fear of losing her children and her hope to keep at least one.

The daughter, like the treetop with the cuckoo, becomes a sign of consolation and peace, someone able to soothe the harsh heart. This image can be understood as a deeply human longing for someone who can comfort the mother. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of a mother and the loss of children is clear.

Linden Tree, Sighing Mother: symbols and phrases

Little linden
The rustling linden is compared with the mother. Its branches correspond to the mother's children.
Nine branches and the treetop
The linden's nine branches and tenth top correspond to the nine sons and the little daughter.
Storm and war
The storm breaking branches and the war taking sons both mark losses threatening the family.
Cuckoo and little daughter
The cuckoo perching on the treetop and the preserved daughter both mark consolation that may calm the mother's heart.

Linden Tree, Sighing Mother: song history

"Linden Tree, Sighing Mother" rests on parallelism across the whole text: in the first part, a linden with nine branches and a top; in the second, a mother with nine sons and a daughter. Such comparison of nature with human fate is typical of family songs, while the sons' riding to war, "krygužę jojo," links the piece with military-historical songs in which a mother fears losing her children. The repeated two-line structure marked with ":...:" points to an alternating manner of singing.

The song turns around loss and the hope of preserving at least one: the treetop with the cuckoo, or the daughter who can soothe the stern heart. The exact place and time of this version's recording are not given on the page, so it is presented according to genre features. Tree-and-family parallelism is a widespread figure in Lithuanian songs.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • D. Krištopaitė. Lietuvių karinės-istorinės dainos, Vilnius 1956
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Linden Tree, Sighing Mother: sources