Kolme on korvessa lähettä

SKVR III1 485·Soikkola·1861·Collector: Groundström, Oskar

In the SKVR edition: [Soikkola, Uusikylä]. Oskar Groundstroem. n. 188. 1861.

SKVR textEnglish

1Kolme on korvessa lähettä,Three are sent in the wilderness,

2Kolt on lohta lähtehessä,Three salmon in the spring,

3Kolmet on linnoja lohessa:Three castles in the salmon:

4Yks on nuoren neion linna,One is the young maiden’s castle,

5Toin on nuoren morsiamen,The second the young bride’s,

6Kolmas on leskivaimon linna.The third the widow-woman’s castle.

7Mikä on silkille silottu,What is smoothed with silk,

8Se on nuoren neijon linna;That is the young maiden’s castle;

9Mikä on kullalle kuvottu,What is adorned with gold,

10Se on nuoren morsion linna;That is the young bride’s castle;

11Mikä on karralla katottu,What is roofed with bark,

12Se on leski vaimon linna.That is the widow-woman’s castle.

13Leski liekkui linnoissa,The widow fluttered in castles,

14Aho ainovaisissa,In eternal meadows,

15Parahissa paijoissa:In the finest resting places:

16En mie o leski enkä leinaI am not a widow nor lamentation,

17Enkä varaton vaimo,Nor a destitute woman,

18On miul neljä poikoista:I have four sons:

19Yks on pitkä pappilassa,One is a tall priest in the parish,

20Toin on Ruotsissa rovasti,The second a dean in Sweden,

21Kolmas on likatta linnasta,The third roams from the castle,

22Neljäs on herra tälle maalla.The fourth is a lord on this land.

23Tuli tauti, tappoi Ruotsista rovastin,A plague came, killed the dean from Sweden,

24Tappoi herran täältä maalta,Killed the lord from this land,

25Tappoi likatti linnasta.Killed the roamer from the castle.

26Nyt on leski, nyt on leina,Now [I am] a widow, now lamentation,

27Nyt on varaton vaimo.Now a destitute woman.

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 editors’ signs inside the verses ([ ], ⌈ ⌉, *, [!], [?]) are left out, as in the poem reader; the letters they enclose are kept.
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.

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