Their faces turned eastwards, sometimes
with lighted candles in their hands, the group of women implore the dawn
to delay its coming until" the sweet wanderer" will get everything and
needs ready for the long journey he undertakes:
From the land of yearning
To that without yearning
From the land of pity
To that without pity!
The most important burial songs are the “bocete” (dirges),
known all over the country. Sung by female relations and close friends
of dead, they are “a melodic overflow of sorrow” at the dead person’s bedside,
in the yard, on the road, in the church-yard during the burial and subsequently
on certain dates destined for the commemoration of the dead. The texts
of the dirges, besides expressing the sorrow of those left behind, often
contain elements with a powerful social content, which are echoes character
of folklore is obvious at every step, both in the dirges for the orphan
children and regret at separation from “the love of the world” are but
a few of the topics of these moving songs.
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