Löin isoni, löin emoni

SKVR III1 121·Narvusi·1858·Collector: Länkelä, Jaako

In the SKVR edition: Narvusi. J. Länkelä. v. I 37. 1858.

Song types: Kiusasin kivelle uida, Löin isoni, löin emoni, Maie, Sormin soutaminen, Suomeen pako

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SKVR textEnglish

1Löin isoni, löin emoni,I struck my father, I struck my mother,

2Pieksin vanhat vaaliani,I thrashed my old kin,

3(Löin viisi velloani,(I struck five brothers of mine,

4Seitsemän sisaruttani);Seven little sisters of mine);

5Itse painusin pakoon.I myself slipped away fleeing.

6Kiljahti kivi merestä,A stone shrieked from the sea,

7Paasi paksu lainehesta;A thick slab from the wave’s hold;

8Jäi neito veen varaan,The maiden stayed to the water’s mercy,

9Lapsi lainehen sisään.The child into the wave’s belly.

10Mihin neito, kuhun neito?Where, maiden, where, maiden?

11Pani sormet soutimeksi,She set fingers as oars,

12Kämmenet käsimeloiksi.Palms as hand-paddles.

13Ei noilla yläälle mennä,With those, one ascends not,

14Ei yläälle, ei alaalle,Not upward, not downward,

15Sousin Suomen rantuelle.I rowed to Finland’s shore.

16Suomen neiot sotkelivat,Finland’s maidens defiled things,

17Päät valot valelivat.Dyed their fair heads,

18Kysyin Suomen neitosilta:I asked Finland’s maidens:

19"Onko Suomessa (siaa) tilutta,"Is there space in Finland,

20Pakeneelle paikkahutta?"Shelter for a fugitive?"

21Suomen neiot vastaelit:Finland’s maidens answered:

22"Ei oo Suomessa tilutta,"There’s no space in Finland,

23Pakeneelle paikkahutta;No shelter for fugitives;

24Nyt on suru Suomen maalla,Now grief grips Finland’s land,

25Itku pitkä piikasilla,Long weeping among maids,

26Musta murhe vanhemmilla,Black sorrow among elders,

27Suuri laulu lapsuloilla,A great song among children,

28Suomi on täynnä soltaattia,Finland is full of soldiers,

29Maa on täynnä matrossia,Land full of sailors,

30Neva täynnä negryttiä,Swamps full of negroes,

31Koito-saari kopraalia."Dawn Isle full of copra-men."

32Siis mie sorruin Soikkulaan,So I turned to Soikkola,

33Kohakseni Kolkanpäähän;Made Kolkanpää my refuge;

34Puutun otsalle kylää,I came to the village’s edge,

35Puutun taloon toarostan;To the house’s outer rim;

36Toarosta mies tasainen,At the threshold, a steady man,

37Kuin tasainen niin matala.As steady as he is lowly.

English translations by DeepSeek R1, provided by Lidia Pivovarova (University of Helsinki). AI-generated translations may contain inaccuracies.

The text is that of the SKVR digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), with these changes:

The edition’s line numbers are replaced by a number on every verse, counted as in the poem reader.
The editors’ notes, and the marks in the verses that point to them, are left out; they can be read at SKS.

Source

Text: SKVR (Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot), the digital edition of the Finnish Literature Society (SKS), licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-007131 · Read at SKS ↗

Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.