Mitä otan virrekse
In the SKVR edition: Hevaa, Tönttölä. O. Groundstroem. n. 134 a. 1861.
SKVR textEnglish
1Mitä otan virrekse,What shall I take as my song,
2Kuta kuka eloksen?How does one find livelihood?
3Otan ehtosen emon.I take the evening's mother.
4Ei emo jouva sanoiks,Mother cannot be turned to words,
5Emoni on elättäjän,My mother is the sustainer,
6Emo on imettäjän.Mother is the nourisher.
7Otan mie ilmaroi ison?Shall I take Ilmar's great one?
8Ei iso jouva sanoiks,The great one won't become words,
9Iso syötti kyllin kansin.The great one fed crowds aplenty.
10Otan Vedra velvyeni?Shall I take Vedra as my in-law?
11Ei vello jouva sanoiks,The brother won't become words,
12Vello viepi vierahija,The brother escorts guests,
13Vello oppi kylälläin.The brother learned in villages.
14Otan sietysän sison.I take the steadfast sister.
15Ei siso jouva sanohiks,Sister won't become utterances,
16Siso silloi sivyttä,Sister stayed silent then,
17Konsa toin ej luulekaan.When I didn't even think to.
18Kukkais miun emoin,My mother was adorned,
19Kukais kuus tytärt,She adorned six daughters,
20Viisi lasta laitteli,Five children she prepared,
21Viis hän vihkiin lähetti,Five she sent to wedlock,
22Kuuvennen heitti kotiin.The sixth she left at home.
23Minkä heitti, kungan heitti?Which did she leave, which one?
24Heitti majon tyttären,She left the maiden daughter,
25Kultia kuluttamaan.To tend the golden legacy.
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.
Permanent address of this poem at SKS: http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:sks-kvr-013143 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.