The Sun Circled Round lyrics and meaning

Apėja saulutė
Aplinkui zarių /2×2

Apjoja bernelis
Aplinkui dvarų /2×2

Ką ieka bernelis-
jaunos panelės /2×2

Čia nėra berneli
Jaunų panelių /2×2

Tik žydi daržely
žalias rutelės /2×2

Pririški berneli
Sava žirgelį /2×2

Kad nemindyt žirgelis
Žalių rūtelių /2×2

Bars mani tėvelis
Tikra momutė /2×2

The Sun Circled Round: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a courtship song in which the circular movement of the sun and the young man creates a gentle image of attraction. The sun goes around the glowing horizon, while the young man rides around the manor looking for young women. This kind of parallel between the movement of nature and human action is characteristic of Lithuanian lyric songs.

The young woman answers that there are no young women here, only green rue blooming in the garden. This answer can be read as a modest evasion or as an allusion to her own maidenhood, since rue often symbolizes it. The young man is asked to tie up his horse so it will not trample the green rue.

The concern that the horse might tread down the rue has a deeper meaning: in songs, trampling rue often suggests a threat to a young woman's chastity or honor. Her fear that her father and mother will scold her strengthens this undertone. That is one possible reading, but the courtship scene and the guarding of rue are clearly central.

The Sun Circled Round: symbols and phrases

The little sun
The sun circling the glow creates a natural parallel to the young man's ride. It gives the song a ritual-like circular rhythm.
Green rue
Rue blooming in the garden is a sign of maidenhood and chastity. Here it stands in for the young woman herself.
The horse
The young man's horse is asked to be tied. Its possible trampling of the rue becomes a symbol of danger to the girl's honor.
"My father will scold me"
Fear of parental scolding shows the young woman's responsibility for her honor and underlines the importance of protecting the rue.

The Sun Circled Round: song history

"The Sun Circled Round" belongs to love and courtship songs: the young man rides around the manor looking for young women, while the young woman modestly avoids the claim by saying that only green rue is there. The opening parallelism, the sun circling the glow and the young man riding around the manor, is a typical lyric formula that places the movement of nature beside human movement and gives the text a calm, revolving rhythm.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on the page, so the song is presented through its genre traits. The motifs of green rue, the horse, and parental scolding are frequent in courtship songs; the request to tie the horse so it will not "trample the rue" carries a symbolic undertone, since trampled rue often means a threat to a girl's chastity or honor.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

The Sun Circled Round: sources