I Walk Through the Manor Yard lyrics and meaning

Einu per dvarelį į viešų kelalį
Pakelėj pavieškelėj stovi ąžuolėlis

Ąžuolėli žalias, ąžuolėli gražus
Ar nebūtum, ąžuolėli, man už tėvužėlį?

Bijūnėli baltas, siratėli mažas
Tai nebūsiu, siratėli, tau už tėvužėl

Neturiu kojelių, nei baltų rankelių,
Aš neturiu, siratėli, nei meilių žodelių

Šaknelės kojelės, šakelės rankelės
O šie žali lapytėliai vis meilių žodel

Einu per dvarelį į viešų kelalį
Pakelėj pavieškelėj stov balta liepel

Liepužėla balta, liepužėla graži
Ar nebūtum, liepužėla, man už motinėlę?

Bijūnėli baltas, siratėli, mažas
Tai nebūsiu, siratėli, tau už motinėl

Neturiu kojelių

Einu per dvarelį į viešų kelalį
Pakelėj pavieškelėj stov baltas beržel

Beržužėli baltas, beržužėli, gražus,
Ar nebūtum beržužėli, man už brolužėl?

Bijūnėli baltas, siratėli, mažas
Tai nebūsiu, siratėli, tau už brolužėl

Neturiu kojelių

Einu per dvarelį į viežų kelalį
Pakelėj pavieškėlėj stovi serbentėlė

Serbentėla žalia, serbentėla graži,
Ar nebūtum, serbentėla, man už seserėl?

Bijūnėli baltas, siratėli, mažas
Tai nebūsiu, siratėli, tau už motinėl

Neturiu kojelių

I Walk Through the Manor Yard: song interpretation

This song can be understood as an orphan song about longing for dead relatives. At the beginning the speaker walks through the manor yard toward the public road, and an oak stands by the roadside. The little orphan asks the oak whether it would be a father to him. The address to the tree immediately reveals that the real father is gone.

The oak answers that it cannot be a father because it has no feet, no white hands, and no loving words. The orphan argues back: the roots are feet, the branches are hands, and the green leaves are all loving words. This dialogue can be interpreted as the orphan's attempt to find the lost father in a tree.

The same pattern is repeated with the linden as mother, the birch as brother, and the currant bush as sister. Each time, the tree or shrub refuses to replace the relative. The repetition can be understood as a painful recognition that nature, however beautiful and alive, cannot substitute for the dead family. That is one possible meaning, but the motif of orphanhood and longing is clear in the song.

I Walk Through the Manor Yard: symbols and phrases

Siratėlis
A little orphan seeking relatives. The orphan is the song's speaker and sufferer.
Oak, linden, birch, currant
Roadside trees and a shrub asked to replace father, mother, brother, and sister. They are substitutes that cannot truly substitute.
Roots, branches, leaves
The orphan likens them to feet, hands, and loving words. This shows the desire to see a living relative in the tree.
The trees' refusal
Each tree refuses to become a relative. The refusals reveal that the loss cannot be replaced.

I Walk Through the Manor Yard: song history

"I Walk Through the Manor Yard" belongs to family songs, and the theme of orphanhood is especially prominent in it. The song is arranged as a sequence of addresses: the orphan asks roadside trees - oak, linden, birch, currant - to become father, mother, brother, and sister, while each tree refuses because it has neither feet, nor hands, nor loving words. This repetitive structure, with the recurring address "white peony, little orphan," is characteristic of orphan songs.

The equation of tree parts - roots, branches, leaves - with human feet, hands, and words creates the song's central image: nature, though beautiful and living, cannot replace the lost family. The exact recording place and time of this version are not given on the page, so the song is presented by genre; the pairing of tree and lost relative is a widespread figure in Lithuanian songs.

sources

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

I Walk Through the Manor Yard: sources