Lyrics
Celotno besedilo pesmi »Jaz sem mala roža« z angleškim prevodom.
Jaz sem mala roža, roža mamina, mamica me boža, rada me ima.
#V šolo že zahajam, pridno se učim, mamici pomagam in je ne jezim.
#V šoli so mi djali, tamkaj za goro, tam so sami bratci, milo jokajo.
#To pač mora biti strašno in hudo mamico izgubiti jokati za njo.
#English translation
I'm a little rose, mummy's rose, mummy strokes me, she loves me so. I already go to school, I study hard, I help my mummy and don't make her cross. At school they told me, there beyond the mountain, there are only little brothers, weeping softly. It must, I suppose, be terrible and hard to lose your mummy and to weep for her.
#Jaz sem mala roža at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia
- Sung in
- Slovenian
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- Slovenian children's song, printed as a folk song ("ljudska"); no author recorded
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, traditional
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
Meaning and origin
At its heart this is a sweet little song about being loved by your mother: the child is “mummy’s little rose”, stroked and cherished, already off to school, studying hard, helping out and trying not to make mummy cross. That tender bond — child and mother, rose and gardener — is the song’s real subject, and its first two verses are as gentle as can be. Some collections stop there.
The four-verse version printed by Slovenske narodne pesmi, which we follow, then turns the picture around. At school, the child says, they told me that beyond the mountain there are only little brothers, weeping softly — and it must be terrible and hard to lose your mummy and to weep for her. The loved child and the motherless children over the hill stand side by side, and the contrast is what gives the song its quiet ache.
No author is recorded; two of the three sources we found print it as a folk song, and the third gives no credit. Like most folk songs it is sung with small variations — “in je ne jezim” or “nič je ne jezim” at the end of the second verse, and in one printing a different second verse altogether, in which the child no longer misbehaves and “speaks wisely”.
Common questions
- What is "Jaz sem mala roža" about?
- Being loved by your mother. The child is "mummy's little rose", stroked and loved; already at school, studying hard, helping mummy and not making her cross. The tender core of the song is that simple bond between child and mother.
- Why do the last verses turn sad?
- In the four-verse version printed by Slovenske narodne pesmi, the child reports what it was told at school: that beyond the mountain there are little brothers who weep softly — and it must, the child supposes, be terrible to lose your mummy and to weep for her. The happy child and the motherless children beyond the mountain are set side by side, which is what gives the song its ache. Some collections print only the first two verses.
- Who wrote "Jaz sem mala roža"?
- No author is recorded. Slovenske narodne pesmi and Ventilator besed both print it as a folk song ("ljudska"), and Otroška pesmica — a site that carries both folk songs and original songs by Milena Holc — names no author for it, so we treat it as traditional. The words vary a little from source to source: the second verse ends "in je ne jezim" or "nič je ne jezim" ("and I don't make her cross"), and Ventilator besed prints a different second verse altogether, "nič več ne nagajam, modro govorim" ("I don't misbehave any more, I speak wisely").
