Kävin mä eilen kirkkosessa

SKVR IV1 656·Venjoki·1847·Collector: Reinholm, H. A.

In the SKVR edition: Venjoki. H. A. Reinholm. A VI 17. 1847.

Song types: Emo kuollut, isä tuo uuden, Emon, ison haudalla

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SKVR textEnglish

1Kävin mä eilen kirkkosessa,I went to the church yesterday,

2Kävin mä eilen, kävin mä ennen,I went yesterday, I went before,

3Käyn vielä tänäkin pänä,I’ll go again this very day,

4Menin emon hauvan peällä.I walked on my mother’s grave.

5Tuoss mä istun, tuoss' mä itkin.There I sit, there I weep.

6Emoi hauvast havaitsi,Mother noticed from the grave,

7Emoi ennäten kysellä:Mother urged me, asking:

8"Mitäs itket tyttövein,"Why weep, girl-sorrow,

9Maanaluinen marjuvein?"Earth-bound berry-sorrow?"

10Mie vasten vastajelin:I answered her:

11"Sitä itken mä emoin,"I weep for my mother,

12Tull miullen ikävän tuska,A longing’s pain came to me,

13Halu-kertaa haastamista."Desire to speak unmet."

14Emo vasten vastajeli:Mother replied:

15"Älä säre uksiain,"Don’t break the doors,

16Piroittele pienojain!Don’t scatter the little ones!

17Ei o tehny teijän seppä,Your smith didn’t make you,

18Ne o tehny Luoja seppä."God the smith made them."

19Menin itkihen takasin,I went back weeping,

20Istun kirkon pengin päähän,Sat on the church bench,

21Kuuntelin emoini ääntä,Listened for my mother’s voice,

22Valitusta vanhempain;The lament of parents;

23En kuulut emoni ääntä,I heard not my mother’s voice,

24Valitusta vanhempain,Nor the parents’ lament,

25Muut kuuliit emosen äänen,Others heard their mother’s voice,

26Mie en kuulut eisingään.I heard nothing at all.

27Tulin itkihen kotihin.Came weeping home,

28Isoi istui pöyvän päässä,Father sat at the table’s head,

29Isoi ennäten kyseli:Father asked me urgently:

30"Mitäs itket, tyttäreini,"Why weep, my daughter,

31Maanallainen marjuveini?"Earthly little berry?"

32"Sitä itken mie, isoin:"I weep, father, for this:

33Kävin mie eilän kirkkosessa,I went to church yesterday,

34Kävin mie eilän, kävin mie ennen,Went yesterday, went before,

35Istuin kirkon pengin päähän,Sat on the church bench,

36Kuuntelin emmoini ääntä,Listened for my mothers’ voices,

37Valitusta vanhempain;The lament of parents;

38Muut kuuliit emoisen äänen,Others heard their mother’s voice,

39Valituksen vanhempaase,The plea to the elders,

40Ei mä kuulut eisinkänä."I heard nothing at all."

41Iso vasten vastajeli:Father answered:

42"Älä itke, tyttäreini,"Don’t weep, my daughter,

43Mie tuon sull paremman äitin."I’ll bring you a better mother."

44Miiä vasten vastajelin:I answered him:

45"Sie tuot tukan repijän,"You’ll bring a hair-ripper,

46Hienohiuksen hierelijän,A fine-hair tormentor,

47Tukat tuulelle jakaajan,Who’ll scatter hair to wind,

48Hienot hiukset hiereleepi."And grind fine hairs away."

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-012325 · Read at SKS ↗

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