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Folklore and Society
Morning Dew and Roses: Nuance, Metaphor, and Meaning in Folksongs
"A major academic work that is also brilliantly, clearly, humanely, and poetically written. It can be enjoyed not only by ballad and bawdry scholars but by everyone who picks it up." -- Kenneth S. Goldstein, University of Pennsylvania, former president of the American Folklore Society
"Toelken's insights . . . are unique. His study broadens and deepens scholarly appreciation of how folksong metaphors carry their own semantic weight. . . . One of the best expressions of the power of music in folksong that I have seen in recent years." -- James Porter, author of The Traditional Music of Britain and Ireland
In this lively exploration of folksongs and their meanings, Barre Toelken looks closely at riddle songs and other ambiguous folksongs, as well as the various "ballad commonplaces." Ranging through metaphors such as weaving, plowing, plucking flowers, and walking in the dew, Toelken shows how each contributes to meaning in vernacular song. He includes comparisons to German folksongs, medieval poetry, Italian folk lyrics, and a wide range of Euro-American vernacular expression.
"Toelken's insights . . . are unique. His study broadens and deepens scholarly appreciation of how folksong metaphors carry their own semantic weight. . . . One of the best expressions of the power of music in folksong that I have seen in recent years." -- James Porter, author of The Traditional Music of Britain and Ireland
In this lively exploration of folksongs and their meanings, Barre Toelken looks closely at riddle songs and other ambiguous folksongs, as well as the various "ballad commonplaces." Ranging through metaphors such as weaving, plowing, plucking flowers, and walking in the dew, Toelken shows how each contributes to meaning in vernacular song. He includes comparisons to German folksongs, medieval poetry, Italian folk lyrics, and a wide range of Euro-American vernacular expression.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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March 26, 2019
He put words to my sense of positive ambiguity in our language and culture.
Part of the metaphorical thrust of the (folk) songs is connected with cowboy culture, and part of it is connected with the culture as a whole, in which male aggressiveness toward females has been an assumed mode of behavior. Because of the fit between these various levels of cultural understanding and the action of the songs, the function of the figurative language in these cases is not to lend color but to establish and savor culturally valid meanings. Whether or not we agree with them intellectually, they have the ring of familiarity, normality, everyday validity, and fidelity to cultural assumptions and values. Moreover, similar clusters of vernacular imagery with similar functions are found in folk songs from all over northern Europe and America. To refuse engagement with this amiss of rich vernacular expression would be to ignore a significant part of our poetic heritage (p. 47).
Pulling or picking a flower, fruit, nut, or branch is almost always followed in English ballads by the appearance of an aggressive male. (p.92)
First, good poetic imagery of any sort, whether written or performed is important because of its positive ambiguity--its capacity to express an idea more fully and with greater complexity of human feeling than can an objective statement (p. 158-9).
Part of the metaphorical thrust of the (folk) songs is connected with cowboy culture, and part of it is connected with the culture as a whole, in which male aggressiveness toward females has been an assumed mode of behavior. Because of the fit between these various levels of cultural understanding and the action of the songs, the function of the figurative language in these cases is not to lend color but to establish and savor culturally valid meanings. Whether or not we agree with them intellectually, they have the ring of familiarity, normality, everyday validity, and fidelity to cultural assumptions and values. Moreover, similar clusters of vernacular imagery with similar functions are found in folk songs from all over northern Europe and America. To refuse engagement with this amiss of rich vernacular expression would be to ignore a significant part of our poetic heritage (p. 47).
Pulling or picking a flower, fruit, nut, or branch is almost always followed in English ballads by the appearance of an aggressive male. (p.92)
First, good poetic imagery of any sort, whether written or performed is important because of its positive ambiguity--its capacity to express an idea more fully and with greater complexity of human feeling than can an objective statement (p. 158-9).
Displaying 1 of 1 review