Oh, Southernwood Bush lyrics and meaning
Vai tu diemed diemedėli
Diemedžio krūmeli
Po diemedžio drabnom šakom
Sėdėjo mergelė
Vai ko sėdie mergužėla
Ko nieko neveiki
Tik tai rymai ant rankelių
Ir taip gailiai verki
Ko man jaunai nerymoti
Ir gailiai neverkti
Visos eina jaunimėlin
Tik aš viena lieku
Visos eina, visos gražios
Visos vainikuotos
O aš jauna mergužėlė
Visos eina, visos nešas
Po rūtų šakelį,
O aš jauna mergužėlė
Mažąjį vaikelį
O tas šelmis bernužėlis
Manį suviliojo
Prisviliojis bernužėlis
Pats karan išjojo
Meaning
This song can be understood as the lament of a seduced and abandoned girl. At the beginning a girl sits beneath the fine branches of a southernwood bush, and she is asked why she does nothing but lean on her hands and weep bitterly. This image can be read as a portrait of grief.
The girl explains that all the others go to the youth gathering, all beautiful, all crowned, each carrying a branch of rue, while she alone remains, carrying a small child. The rue branch and wreath can be understood as signs of maidenhood, and the child as the sign of her lost honor.
At the end it is said that a rogue young man seduced her and then rode off to war. This image can be interpreted as the fate of a deceived and abandoned girl. That is one possible meaning, but the sorrow of the seduced girl is clear.
Symbols
- Southernwood
- The bush beneath which the weeping girl sits marks the song's setting.
- Leaning, weeping girl
- The girl leaning on her hands and weeping bitterly marks grief.
- Wreath and rue branch
- The maidenhood signs carried by the other girls mark the heroine's lost honor.
- Rogue young man gone to war
- The young man who seduced her and left for war marks deception and abandonment.
History
"Oh, Southernwood Bush" belongs to love songs, especially the sorrowful branch about a girl seduced and left behind; it also touches family lyric because it concerns maidenly honor and misfortune. At the beginning the girl sits under the fine branches of the southernwood and weeps bitterly, then explains her pain: other girls go to the youth gathering crowned and carrying rue branches, while she alone remains with a small child. The address to a plant, the southernwood, is a typical opening image in Lithuanian lyric.
The exact recording place and time are not given on this page, so the song is presented through genre signs. The wreath and rue branch function here as signs of maidenhood and innocence, which the heroine has lost, while the ending, the rogue young man seducing her and then riding to war, gathers the motifs of deception and abandonment common in songs of unhappy love.
Sources
- Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
- Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986
- Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia: Lithuanian folk songs
- LLTI: Lithuanian Folk Songbook
Common questions
Oh, Southernwood Bush: what kind of song is this?
It is a sad love song about a seduced and abandoned girl, also touching family lyric through the theme of maidenly honor.
What do the wreath and rue branch symbolize?
They are signs of maidenhood and innocence. The heroine's lack of them shows that she has lost the honor the other girls still display.
Why does the song begin with southernwood?
Addressing a plant is a common Lithuanian lyric opening; the girl weeping under southernwood branches immediately creates a sorrowful mood.
Oh, Southernwood Bush: who is the "rogue young man"?
He is the young man who seduced the girl and then rode away to war, the image of deception and abandonment behind her misfortune.