Rue, Green Rue lyrics and meaning

Uoj rūta, rūta
Rūtela žalioji
Kodėl nežaliuoji
Žiemą vasarėl

Todėl nežaliuoju
Žiemą vasarėlį
Kad sesė pasėjo
Ne ten kur norėj

Man sesiulė sėjo
Aukštuose kalnuose
Aukštuose kalnuose
Tuose dirvonuose

Kur nei lietus lyja
Nei vėjelis pučia
Nei šviesi saulalė
Nigdei neužais

Uoj tatuši mano
Tatuši širdeli
Kodėl mani nulaidai
Už seno našlal

Kodėl mani nulaidai
Už seno našlalio
Už seno našlalio
Prie didžio vargel

Kodėl mani nelaidai
Už jauno bernelio
Už jauno bernelio
Ant didžio dvarel

Rue, Green Rue: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a parallel song comparing rue and a young woman. At the beginning, the green rue is asked why it does not flourish in winter or summer, and it answers that the sister sowed it where it did not want to be: in high hills and fallow fields, where no rain falls, no wind blows, and no sun ever rises. This image can be interpreted as rue planted in a barren, bleak place.

The same thought is then transferred to the young woman: she reproaches her father for having given her to an old widower, into great hardship, instead of to a young man on a great estate. These images can be understood as the picture of an unhappy marriage arranged against her will.

The rue in barren soil and the young woman married to an old widower can be interpreted as parallel images of a bleak lot, with a reproach directed at the father. This is one possible meaning, but the parallel between rue and the young woman is clear in the song.

Rue, Green Rue: symbols and phrases

Rue that does not flourish
Rue planted in a barren place and unable to grow. It is parallel to the unhappily married young woman.
High hills and fallow fields without rain or sun
The bleak place where the rue is sown. It marks an infertile, sorrowful lot.
Old widower
The difficult old husband to whom the young woman is given. He marks an unhappy marriage.
Young man and great estate
The desired young bridegroom and wealthy estate. They mark the hoped-for but unrealized fate.

Rue, Green Rue: song history

"Rue, Green Rue" belongs to family songs about the unhappy lot of being married off, built on the principle of parallelism. The green rue does not flourish because it was sown not where it wanted, but in high hills and fallow fields where no rain falls and no sun rises. The same pattern is then transferred to the young woman, who reproaches her father for sending her to an old widower rather than to a young man. This comparison of rue and girl, and the reproach to parents for a bad lot, is characteristic of family songs and songs about a young woman's fate.

The exact place and time of this recording are not given on the page, so the song is presented according to genre features. Rue here is a symbol of youth and the unmarried girl, while the barren-land image, hills and fallow fields without rain or sun, gives parallel meaning to a bleak, hard marital lot.

sources

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

Rue, Green Rue: sources