Page 27 - Talkingwiththebirds_Eng

Folk songs with birds

The folk songs are very generous to the birds. The lyricists created many songs, to honor

them literally or allegorically. They sang them one by one, two together (usually the swallow
and the nightingale, for example "a woman who has swallow’s body, voice like the nightingale")

or all together (now the birds, now the swallows, now the partridges sing and say… »)

Most of the songs refer to the partridge, which symbolizes the beautiful and proud
woman, who walks with grace and pride, but also the protective mother. There are songs,

which refer to the eagle, which symbolizes the brave rebels, who fought for liberation against

the Turks’ occupation etc. In this sequence we have the songs of the lonely nightingale, of the

swallow and the turtle dove which from antiquity symbolizes the absolutely faithful woman.
When the male dies, the female never re-mates. However, this situation leads the turtledove to

jealousy of the joys of life, to untold sadness and melancholy, and to a mood of conveying and

spreading bad news. Thus, in folk poetry all the bad news (deaths, catastrophes, defeats, loss of

castles, etc.) is announced by the “sad turtle dove.”