Not Thunder Roared lyrics and meaning

Ne grausmai graudė,
Žemė drebėjo-
Jauni berneliai
Tai mūšin ajo /2×2

Tris dzienas naktis
Jauniejai mu(šės)
O an kecvirtos
Tai ir nustojo /2×2

Verkit, tėveliai,-
Sūnūs negrįžta.
Verkit, seselės,-
Nėra brolalių. /2×2

Verkit seselės,-
Nėra brola(lių),
Verkit, mergelės,-
Nėra bernelių. /2×2

-Žirgeli šyvas,
Juodas bėreli,
Vai kur padėjai
Mūsų brolalį? /2×2

-Vilniaus miestelyj,
Smilčių kalnelyj,
Tai tįnai guli
Jūsų brolalis. /2×2

Pas jo kapelį
Tai dziemedėlis,
{as dziemedėlį
Tai liemenėlis. /2×2

Pas dziemedėlį
Tai liemenėlis.
Pas liemenėlį
Trys lelijėlės. /2×2

Pas liemenėlį
Trys lelijėlės,
Tai tįnai guli
Jūs brolužėlis. /2×2

Not Thunder Roared: song interpretation

This Dzūkian song can be understood as a war ballad about young men killed in battle. At the beginning, it says that it was not thunder roaring and the earth shaking, but young men going into battle. This comparison can be interpreted as an image of war's power.

For three days and nights the young men fought, and on the fourth they stopped. Fathers are urged to weep because sons do not return; sisters because brothers are gone; young women because their beloved young men are gone. This universal mourning can be understood as the loss of the whole community.

When questioned, the horse reveals where the brother lies: in the town of Vilnius, on a sandy hill, where southernwood, a stem, and three lilies grow by the grave. These grave plants can be interpreted as signs of memory and mourning. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of death in war and grief is clear in the song.

Not Thunder Roared: symbols and phrases

"Not thunder roared, the earth shook"
Battle compared with thunder and earthquake. It signifies the force of war.
Young men going into battle
The youths who went to fight. They are the dead mourned in the song.
Weep, fathers, sisters, young women
A call for all close kin and beloveds to mourn. It signifies collective loss.
Southernwood and lilies on the grave
Plants growing by the grave. They signify memory and mourning.

Not Thunder Roared: song history

"Not Thunder Roared" belongs to military-historical songs, more precisely to the layer of war ballads about young men killed in battle. The opening comparison, that it was not thunder roaring and not the earth shaking, but young men going to battle, is a traditional military-song hyperbole that likens combat to a force of nature. The three-day-and-night battle that falls silent on the fourth day is a common time motif in such songs.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented by genre traits, while Dzūkian forms such as dzienas, tįnai, and brolalis point to the southeastern Lithuanian dialect. The second half of the song is based on a dialogue with the horse, which reveals where the dead brother lies, in Vilnius, on a sandy hill. The southernwood and three lilies growing on the grave are signs of memory and mourning frequent 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

Not Thunder Roared: sources