Čížečku, čížečku ("

Siskin The name siskin when referring to a bird is derived from an adaptation of the German dialect words ''sisschen'', ''zeischen'', which are diminutive forms of Middle High German (''zîsec'') and Middle Low German (''ziseke'', ''sisek'') words, wit ...

, o Little Siskin") is a traditional

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

children's

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

and a

singing game A singing game is an activity based on a particular verse or rhyme, usually associated with a set of actions and movements. As a collection, they have been studied by folklorists, ethnologists, and psychologists and are seen as important part o ...

which was performed in the past as an annual custom supposed to enhance the yield of

poppy A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug ...

. The song is a chain of verses of the same pattern of

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

: :''Call:'' :Siskin, o little Siskin, a little birdie, :Tell me o Siskin how the

is sown ::''Response:'' ::This is how the poppies are sowed (repeated, with variations) In Czech: : Čížečku, čížečku, ptáčku maličký, :pověz mi čížečku, jak sejou mák? ::Aj tak, tak sejou mák, aj tak, tak sejou mák, ::aj tak, tak sejou mák, tak sejou mák. The call/response is repeated, with the verb "sowed" being replaced with the other stages of growing, harvesting and processing the poppies: *Grows *Blossoms *Harvested *Is milled (or "crushed") *Is eaten With every response the children are supposed to perform an action of how exactly the poppy is sown, grown, eaten, etc. It may also be arranged in the form of a dance. There is a similar Russian children's folk question-answer song-game about handling poppies.Наталья Кононова, ''Коррекция нарушенных функций у детей с церебральным параличом''
p. 298
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References

External links

Čížečku, čížečku
a Czech TV webpage (with video) Singing games Czech folk songs Songs in Czech Czech children's songs Traditional children's songs Pantomime Songs about birds Songs about plants {{game-stub

See also

References

External links