Wedding poem

The manuscript collection of Smajil O. Bradarić, Narodne umotvorine (iz Dervente i okolice većinom) – Folk wisdom (from Derventa and its surroundings for most part), in five note-books in which there stands out a wedding song  which was bought from its owner in 1957. This wedding song (svatovska pjesma) was written in the 5^th note-book of Bradarić's collection under the number 147. We have not much information about its collector, but from his margin notes we can infer that he was a teacher of religion in Derventa where he was working between the two wars.

The song was sung in sixteen lines in widely popular epic decasyllabic verse in which great sagacity of lyrical individual is evidentfrom girl’s determination to control unpredictable moments with which young brides are quite often confronted in their new home. In fact, the girl knows well in advance that without good will and cordial welcome in bridegroom’s house there is no principle of acquiring secure happiness and well-being in her new community, and that firm habitual customs (boščaluci – bride's trousseau and gifts for new in-mates) serve certain conventions, culturally- bound, not changing much for happiness in the long run.

Wedding procession lyrics represent a substantial part of lyrical heritage of all South Slav people. The only information about its informant is her name Safija, who lived in Derventa in 1942 when this song was taken down.