Sister, Let Us Cut Rye lyrics and meaning

Eisma sesia rugių pjautie ulioja lelyja
Ir ateina debesėlis ulioja lelyja
Debesėlis skaudus lietus
Kur mes sesia pasidėsma
Eisma sesia po liepėla
Man liepėla ne sesėla
Viršūnėla ne galvėla
Man šakėlas ne runkėlas
Man šaknėlas ne kojėlas
Man lapėliai ne žadėliai

Sister, Let Us Cut Rye: song interpretation

This song, with the refrain "ulioja lelyja," can be understood as an orphan sisters' song about a tree that cannot replace a sister. At the beginning the sisters go to cut rye, but a cloud comes and a painful rain falls. Caught in the downpour, they wonder where to go and decide to shelter under a linden.

But the song then says that the linden is not their sister, its crown is not a head, its branches are not hands, its roots are not feet, and its leaves are not words. This chain of negations can be read as the realization that a tree, although it gives shelter from rain, does not possess what a living person has.

The whole song rests on the contrast between the tree and the dead sister. This image can be understood as an expression of orphanhood, where nature cannot fill the loss. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of loss and longing is clear in the song.

Sister, Let Us Cut Rye: symbols and phrases

Rye cutting
The sisters' field work, interrupted by rain. It opens the song and creates the background of everyday labor.
Painful rain
The cloudburst that forces the sisters to seek shelter. It introduces a note of grief.
The linden is not a sister
The tree under which they shelter is compared to a sister but cannot become one. It marks irreplaceable loss.
Crown, branches, leaves
Parts of the tree that are not a head, hands, or words. They emphasize that the tree cannot stand in for a living person.

Sister, Let Us Cut Rye: song history

"Sister, Let Us Cut Rye" belongs to family songs in which the orphanhood theme unfolds, while the refrain "ulioja lelyja" links it with work songs of the rye harvest. The song begins with a work scene: sisters go to cut rye, but an arriving cloud and hard rain force them to seek shelter under a linden, and at that point the text turns into a chain of negations.

The linden is not a sister; its crown is not a head; its branches are not hands; its roots are not feet; its leaves are not words. This contrast between the tree and the lost sister forms the song's core and shows that nature does not replace bereavement. The exact place and time of this version's recording are not stated on the page, so the song is presented through genre features; the comparison of a tree and a lost loved one is a widely spread figure in Lithuanian songs.

sources

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

Sister, Let Us Cut Rye: sources