The Beautiful Girl on the Swing

PRETTY MAIDEN ON THE SWING — WONDERLAND

A folk song from Järva County, written down by Kreutzwald. Girls show off their beauty and jewellery on the swing and soar away into a magical dreamland.

Go, swing, rise high,
Go, swing, up high,
Up high and far away,
Let me be seen in many lands,
Be admired and highly valued!

Even if I myself am not seen,
My rosy cheeks will be seen,
A ring sparkles on one finger,
Another on the other hand,
And a third, a golden one, upon my thumb.

Go, swing, far away,
Where the roosters peck at gold,
The hens peck at tinsel,
And the geese at shining silver!

“Time to Rise: Twenty-Eight Estonian Folk Songs.”
Written down by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald in the village of Viisu, Järva County, in 1828.