Aij on meitä veljeksiä

SKVR V1 108·Vuole·1859·Collector: Saxbäck, Fr. A.

In the SKVR edition: Vuole. Saxbäck 315. 59.

SKVR textEnglish

1Aij on meitä veljeksiä,Oh, we are as brothers,

2Aij on veljen poikaksi,Oh, as the brother's sons,

3Myö se tammen taittelemma,We carve the oak,

4Puut pitkät piroittelemma.Hew the long trees,

5Tyvet teemme tynnyriksi,We make the bases into barrels,

6Latvat laivan mastiloiksi,Treetops into ship masts,

7Pikariks pienet oksat.Small branches into tankards,

8Lasken laivain lahelle,I sail the ships shoreward,

9Tuli aalto, katto airot,A wave rose, swamped the oars,

10Saatto kaaret kallalleen,Tipped the oar-handles over,

11Sysäs syrjälleen.Shoved them sideways.

12Soua, soua, soutajani,Row, row, my rowers,

13Piä perä perän pitäjä!Hold the stern, stern-keeper!

14Soua tuolle rantaselle,Row to yonder shore,

15Jossa puut punalle paistuu,Where trees glow crimson,

16Puut punalle, maat sinelle.Trees red, lands azure.

17Kullalle kukat kanervan,Golden the heather's blooms,

18Hoppil hongan oksat,Silvery the pine's boughs,

19Kellall petäjän kerkät.Golden the fir's tips.

20Voi voitonta kylää,Alas, the butterless village,

21Maata aivan maitotonta!Land utterly milkless!

22Jotta ennen meiän maallaFor once on our land,

23Voita voit hongan oksat,Butter dripped from pine boughs,

24Maito maho petäjät.Milk flowed from fir trunks.

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.

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.