leqsebi

ia mtazeda
speaker in this poem rebels are those forbidding a man to marry his “sister-spouse.” Since he cannot
remain with his beloved while alive, he hopes to be united with her in a quite literal sense in the
grave (see the notes on ts’ats’loba in the Introduction, and poem #59) .
44. Ra bevri mit’irebia (“How long I have been weeping”). Sources: LP 97-98, Ko 219-220. Recited
by Babale Mindodauri in Pshavi. The object of the intense young woman’s love appears to be a
fugitive, who has fled the village after killing a man for what he (and she) believe to be a just reason.
He has taken refuge in the woods. The woman does not where he is, and has presumably given the
message expressed in the poem to one of his companions. In addition to giving her Christian name,
Tamar, she mentions her tik’uni (translated here as “nickname”), an additional name used by family
members and close friends (see Sh. Apridonidze “Das System der georgischen Personennamen”
Georgica #7 [1984], pp. 21-26).
45. Chari-rama (“Chari-rama”). Source: Ko 249-250. Collected by Al. Mirakashvili in Guria (Sak.
Mus. #1924). Makhorka is a Russian word for cheap, poor-quality tobacco.
46. Gasatkhovari kali var (“I am an unmarried woman”). Source: Ko 253. Recited by Duduna Geladze
in the Gurian village Ozurgeti.
47. Sapeikro: jarav, jarav, bzio (Spinning song: “Spinning wheel, bzio”). Source: Ko 194. Recited by
L. Okrop’iridze in the Kartlian village Disevi.
Georgian spinning songs, such as the two given here, typically contain nonsense syllables (bzio,
chari-rama). The rhythm pattern of the first song is 6+6+8+6, the same as that of the Mingrelian
poem “The sun is my mother” (#20). The phrase “shirt to be” is an attempt to render the force of the
derived word sa=p’erang=e “material to be made into a shirt.”
48. Sapeikro: araru darejanasa (Spinning song: “Araru, Darejan”). Source: Ko 194. Recited by L.
Okrop’iridze in the Kartlian village Disevi.
49. Melekhishe si reki (“There you are on the other side”). Source: LP 142 #593. Recited by Agr.
Tsomaia-Iosava in the Mingrelian village Tskhak’aia in 1965. The theme of lovers separated by a
river has also been treated in a celebrated poem by Vazha-Pshavela [1860-1911] entitled Gamoghmit
me var, gaghma shen (“I am on this side, you’re on that side”). The first stanza reads:
I am on this side, you’re on that side,
A river runs between us;
We have no bridge over the water,
Impatient thoughts are killing us.
I want to kiss you, and you to kiss me,
I see you smiling over there;
But there’s no way I can cross over
This damned river.
50. Ana, bana, gana, dona (“Ana, bana, gana, dona”). Source: LP 120 #420. Recorded by Giorgi
Natadze, ca. 1940 (site not noted). “Ana, bana, gana,” and so on, are the names of the letters in the
Georgian alphabet. Many poems of this type, termed anbant-keba (“praise of the alphabet”), have
been used throughout Georgia to help children learn their letters [DGF I, 41].
51. Net’avi ratme maktsia (“May I turn into something”). Source: Ko 241; notes pp. 397-9. Recited by
M. L. Bidzinashvili in the Kartlian village K’arbi. Variant in OL 38 #20 .
52. Tvali sheni (“Your eyes”). Source: Ko 253-4. Recited by Duduna Geladze in the Gurian village
Ozurgeti. The three villages used to estimate the worth of the beloved’s features — Chonchkhati,
Lesa and Ozurgeti — are located in the province of Guria .
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