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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