Mittasin meren syvyyttä

SKVR IV1 2·Venjoki·1847·Collector: Europaeus, D. E. D.

In the SKVR edition: [Venjoki]. D. E. D. Europaeus. J 362. 1847.

SKVR textEnglish

1Mittasin meren syvyyttä,I measured the sea's depth,

2Katsoin kaivon korkeutta,I observed the well's height,

3Kiistasin kivolla uia,I struggled to swim on the rock,

4Kiinteä ol kivolla uia,Firm was swimming on the rock,

5Pah ol uia paatuessa.Harsh was swimming when halting.

6Paasi pohjahan putosi,A boulder sank to the depths,

7Jäivät sormet soutimiksi,Fingers turned to oars,

8Kämmenet vesimeloiksi.Palms to water paddles.

9Ei nuolla etähä soua,Now one couldn’t row far,

10Souin meron souin toisen,I rowed one sea, then another,

11Kohta kolmatta rupesin.Soon I began a third.

12Alko Suomenmaa näkyä,Finland began to appear,

13Suomen kuuset kuumotella,Finland’s spruces loomed,

14Suomen neiot sotkemassa,Finland’s maidens adorning,

15Valkopäät valaisemassa,White-haired ones lighting the way,

16Kysyin Suomen neitoloilta:I asked Finland’s maidens:

17"Onkos tilaa tietä käyä"Is there space to tread the path

18Sekä ma'ata' matkalaisen?"And for a traveler to rest?"

19"Ei oo tilaa tietä käyä"There’s no space to tread the path

20Eikä ma'ata' matkalaisen,Nor for a traveler to rest,

21Meill on maat saroin jaettu,Our lands are split in rows,

22Pienet pirstoin(?) mittaeltuSmall plots fragmented(?) and measured,

23Pienen seppäsen varalla,Reserved for a small smith,

24Joka takoo viikatteita,Who hammers scythes,

25Seurakunnan sirppilöitä,The parish’s sickles,

26Maakunnan puraksen päitä.The province’s axe-heads.

27Valta kiitti vaarnahia(?),The power praised the pegs(?),

28Seurakunta sirppilöitä."The parish’s sickles."

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.