Oh, Little Meadow lyrics and meaning

Oi lunkela lunkela,
Oi lunkela lunkela,
Oi lunkela lunkela,
Žalioji pievela.
Oi lunkela lunkela,
Žalioji pievela.

Oi mes pjausim šienelį,
Oi mes pjausim šienelį,
Oi mes pjausim,
Berneli,šienelį.
Oi mes pjausim
Berneli šienelį.

Oi mes josim Rygužėn,
Oi mes josim Rygužėn,
Oi mes josim,
Berneli, Rygužėn.
Oi mes josim,
Berneli, Rygužėn.

Slaunas miestas Rygužė,
Slaunas miestas Rygužė,
Dar slaunesnis,
Berneli, Liškaiva.
Dar slaunesnis,
Berneli, Liškaiva.

Stovi vaiskas kaip mūras,
Stovi vaiskas kaip mūras,
Stovi vaiskas,
Berneli, kaip mūras,
Stovi vaiskas,
Berneli, kaip mūras,

Bim kulipkos kaip bitės
Bim kulipkos kaip bitės
Bim kulipkos,
Berneli, kaip bitės.
Bim kulipkos,
Berneli, kaip bitės.

Krenta vaiskas kaip mūras
Krenta vaiskas kaip mūras
Krenta vaiskas,
Berneli, kaip mūras.
Krenta vaiskas,
Berneli, kaip mūras.

Liejas kraujas kaip vanduo
Liejas kraujas kaip vanduo
Liejas kraujas,
Berneli, kaip vanduo.
Liejas kraujas,
Berneli, kaip vanduo.

Laka šunes, kaip levai
Laka šunes, kaip levai
Laka šunes,
Berneli, kaip levai.
Laka šunes,
Berneli, kaip levai.

Oh, Little Meadow: song interpretation

This Dzūkian song can be understood as a song that moves from peaceful work to the horror of war. At the beginning it sings of a green meadow and mowing hay. These images can be interpreted as calm, peaceful village life.

Then the riders go to Riga, a famous city, and to still more famous Liškiava, and suddenly a picture of war appears: the army stands like a wall and bullets buzz like bees. This turn can be understood as the sudden change from peace into battle.

At the end the army falls like a wall, blood flows like water, and dogs lap it like lions. These images can be interpreted as a brutal picture of war, sharply contrasting with the peaceful haymaking at the beginning. That is one possible reading, but the opposition between peace and war is clear.

Oh, Little Meadow: symbols and phrases

Green meadow and haymaking
Peaceful haymaking work marks calm village life.
Riga and Liškiava
Famous towns toward which the riders go, marking the destination of the war journey.
Army like a wall, bullets like bees
The standing army and buzzing bullets mark the force and danger of battle.
Blood like water, dogs lapping
Blood flowing and dogs lapping it like lions form the song's brutal image of war.

Oh, Little Meadow: song history

"Oh, Little Meadow" belongs to military-historical songs in which a peaceful work scene suddenly shifts into war. The song begins with the idyll of a green meadow and haymaking, then rides to Riga and Liškiava, where a battle picture unfolds. The constant insertion "berneli" in the short lines of each stanza and the image that grows stanza by stanza are traits of Dzūkian songs of this genre.

The song is written in the Dzūkian dialect, with forms such as "lunkela," "vaiskas," "kulipkos," and "levai." The exact recording place and time are not given on this page, so it is presented by genre traits. The terror of war is conveyed through hyperbolic comparison formulas: the army stands and falls like a wall, bullets buzz like bees, and blood flows like water, typical military-historical song images set against the peaceful opening haymaking.

sources

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

Oh, Little Meadow: sources