Do you like flowers? Ar jums patinka gėlės?
What's your favourite flower? Kokia yra tavo mėgstamiausia gėlė?
Do you like getting flowers? Ar jums patinka gauti gėlių?
These questions may sound lovey-dovey. But what if you are a gardener (sodininkas)? Or simply, a nature lover (gamtos mylėtojas)?
Let's check this visual Lithuanian-English flower vocabulary and find out poetic quotes regarding some of the most enchanting flowers of Springtime!
Pienė - Dandelion
Unlike any other, this humble yet tenacious flower is one of the earliest signs of Spring. If you ask me, pienė symbolises the freedom of thought. When in full bloom, it reminds me of the Sun. After the bloom it serves as an anchor to your dreams (close your eyes, make a wish and blow it up into the sky!)
''No creature is fully itself till it is, like the dandelion, opened in the bloom of pure relationship to the sun, the entire living cosmos.'' ― D. H. Lawrence
Narcizas - Daffodil
Daffodil reminds me of Greek mythology. According to the legend, there was once lived a handsome hunter called Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, staring at it for the remainder of his life. Narcizas stands for gracefulness as its form reminds me of a graceful dancer.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
― Daffodils by William Wordsworth
Poetry lovers may find the whole poem here
Wonder how that would sound in Lithuanian? Well, let's give it a try:
Vienišas klajoklis-debesis
Virš slėnių ir kalvų aš vis
Sklendžiau, kol aptikau
Minią, auksu išdabintą
Šokančią su vėju, linksmą
Ežero krante, medžių gaivume
Narcizai aukso šokyje.
Translated by Neringa Jagelavičiūtė-Teišerskienė
Pakalnutė - Lily of the valey
This miniature flower looks fragile and yet is so powerful in its scent. It could be also associated with music due to the shape of a bell of its petals. I wonder how the musical piece of pakalnutė would sound...
“I would far rather have two or three lilies of the valley gathered for me by a person I like, than the most expensive bouquet that could be bought!”. ― Elizabeth Gaskell, Wives and Daughters.
Neužmirštuolė - Forget-Me-Not
And finally, the unforgettable one, neužmirštuolė. According to the Wikipedia encyclopedia, the colloquial name "forget-me-not" was first used in English in AD 1398 through King Henry IV of England. Similar names and variations are found in many languages, e.g. Old French ne m'oubliez mye; German Vergißmeinnicht, Swedish förgätmigej, Hungarian nefelejcs, Czech nezabudka. As the etymology dictionary says, in the Middle Ages the flower was supposed to ensure that those wearing it should never be forgotten by their lovers.
My heart melts whenever I see the blue tiny one. Since most often they grow forming a huge family, the meadow of blossoming forget-me-nots could remind one of the sea. Last but not least, this flower does remind me of a person whom I really loved, my grandma Domicelė. She passed away many years ago but the blossoming of forget-me-not brings me back the brightest and warmest memories of my childhood and the time where my grandma's garden looked like the bluest of the fairy-tales.
Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels. ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I hope to have brightened up Your day. Let's celebrate Spring in its natural beauty.
Photo credit: Unsplash.com
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