Dona Dona Dona
- Debra
- Jul 2
- 1 min read
4 July 2025
Dona Dona Dona
by Teddi Schwartz, Sholom Secunda, Arthur S. Kevess, and Aaron Zeitlin
On a wagon bound for market
There’s a calf with a mournful eye.
High above him,
There’s a swallow
Winging swiftly through the sky.
How the winds are laughing!
They laugh with all their might.
Laugh and laugh
the whole day through
and half the summer’s night.
Dona, dona, dona,
dona,
dona, dona dona don. . . .
Dona, dona, dona,
dona,
dona, dona, dona don. . . .
“Stop complaining,” said the farmer,
Who told you all calves are free?
Why don’t you have wings to fly with,
Like the swallow
So proud and free?”
How the winds are laughing!
They laugh with all their might.
Laugh and laugh
the whole day through
and half the summer’s night.
Dona, dona, dona,
dona,
dona, dona, dona don. . . .
Dona, dona, dona,
dona,
dona, dona, dona don . . . .
Calves are easily bound
and slaughtered,
Never knowing the reason why.
But whoever treasures freedom,
Like the swallow
Has learned to fly.
How the winds are laughing!
They laugh with all their might.
Laugh and laugh
the whole day through
and half the summer’s night.
Dona, dona, dona,
dona,
dona, dona, dona don. . . .
Dona, dona, dona,
dona,
dona, dona, dona don. . . .
