Rise, Daughter lyrics and meaning

Kelk, dukrele, pamigai,
Lelijėle, pamigai,
Kelk mano dukrele,
Drobių audėjėla. /2×2

Seniai būčiau atsikėlus,
In staklelį atsisėdus,
Skaudė man galvelę
Per visą naktelį /2×2

In stakleles atsisėdau,
Per langelį pažiūrėjau,
Pamačiau, pažinau,
Kad mano bernelis. /2×2

Rise, Daughter: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a song about a weaving daughter whose work is interrupted by her beloved. At the beginning the mother wakes the sleeping daughter, calling her a little lily and a linen weaver. This address can be interpreted as a call to sit at the loom and begin work.

The daughter answers that she would long ago have risen and sat at the little loom, but her head hurt through the whole night. This excuse can be understood directly, but also as a hint of other thoughts that interfere with work.

Once seated at the loom, the daughter looks through the little window and sees and recognizes her young man. This image can be interpreted as love entering everyday work, when the beloved's appearance draws the young woman's attention away. That is one possible meaning, but the weaving and love motif is clear.

Rise, Daughter: symbols and phrases

Linen weaver
The weaving daughter whom the mother wakes. She marks the hardworking young woman.
Little loom
The loom at which the daughter is urged to sit. It marks women's textile work.
Headache
The head that hurt all night. It explains the delay in rising and may also carry a hint of unspoken thoughts.
Young man at the window
The beloved seen through the window. He marks love entering everyday work.

Rise, Daughter: song history

"Rise, Daughter" belongs to work songs about weaving, into which a love motif enters. The mother wakes the sleeping daughter, calling her a "linen weaver" and urging her to sit at the loom; the daughter excuses herself with a headache that lasted through the night, and once she sits at the loom she sees her young man through the window. Spinning and weaving work, and the waking of a girl to sit at the loom, are typical work-song images, here gently mingled with young love.

The exact place and time of recording are not stated on this page, so the song is presented according to genre features; the motif of the weaver and the beloved at the window appears in different Lithuanian regions. The core of the song is the address "linen weaver" and the three-stanza movement from waking, through excuse, to seeing the young man through the little window.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, t. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 t., Vilnius 1972-1986

Rise, Daughter: sources