Dill Trampled the Little Clover lyrics and meaning

Krapas* dobilalį pamynė, palaužė.
Krapas dobilalį pamynė, palaužė.

… Kas laukėliu ėjo? Pamynė, palaužė.
… Bernužėlis ėjo, pamynė, palaužė.
… Ko bernėlis žūva, pamynė, palaužė.
… Žūva auksa žiedu, pamynė, palaužė.
… Kas žiedėlį rada, pamynė, palaužė.
… Rada mergužėla, pamynė, palaužė.
… Klausia bernužėlis, pamynė, palaužė.
… Kadu ataduosi, pamynė, palaužė.
… Kada mana būsi, pamynė, palaužė.

*„Ūtara“ vietoje krapas sako kropas.

Dill Trampled the Little Clover: sutartinė interpretation

This sutartinė, with the refrain "pamynė, palaužė," can be understood as a love song with a marriage-promise motif. At the beginning, dill tramples and breaks a little clover, and a young man walking through the field loses a golden ring. The scene places signs of youth and love beside the image of a plant that has been trodden down.

The ring is then found by a young woman, and the young man asks when she will give it back, when she will be his. This question points toward courtship and a wedding promise: the found golden ring becomes the object around which the young man and woman negotiate their bond.

A second reading gives the opening image stronger force. In love songs, a trampled, broken clover can be a veiled sign of the loss of maidenhood or sexual innocence: trodden grass marks a boundary crossed. The whole sutartinė may therefore be read as a concealed erotic and marital drama. After "trampled, broke" comes the young couple's closeness, and the lost and found golden ring - a sign of betrothal - becomes the way to legitimate that bond: "when will you be mine?" Images of clover, rue, or flax being trampled are common in haymaking and love songs, where feeling is expressed indirectly through the fate of plants.

Dill Trampled the Little Clover: symbols and phrases

Dill trampling the little clover
The trampled and broken clover may stand, in love-song language, for the loss of maidenhood or innocence.
The young man losing a golden ring
The young man walking through the field and losing his ring marks the loss of a love token.
Golden ring
The ring lost and found by the girl symbolizes love and a betrothal promise.
"When will you be mine?"
The young man's question to the girl points toward courtship and the promise of marriage.

Dill Trampled the Little Clover: sutartinė history

"Krapas dobilėlį pamynė palaužė" is a love and courtship sutartinė with the refrain "pamynė, palaužė" - "trampled, broke." It repeats a dialogic chain typical of sutartinės: who walked through the field, what was lost, who found it, and what question is asked. The ūtara, or second voice part, says "kropas" instead of "krapas," showing how different vocal parts could slightly vary the words.

Sutartinės flourished in northeastern Aukštaitija from the 16th to the 19th century; wedding and love sutartinės are among their main genre groups. In 2010 sutartinės were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The exact place of this variant could not be confirmed from the publicly accessible Slaviūnas index.

sources

  • Z. Slaviūnas. Sutartinės, vols. 1-3 (1958-1959)
  • D. Račiūnaitė-Vyčinienė. Sutartinės: Lithuanian Polyphonic Songs (2002)

Dill Trampled the Little Clover: sources