Talo täss, linna ennen

SKVR V1 449·Vuole·1859·Collector: Saxbäck, Fr. A.

In the SKVR edition: Vuole, Alakylä. Saxbäck 194. 59.

SKVR textEnglish

1Talo täss, linna ennen,A house here, a castle before,

2Talo on tässä, ennen ollut,The house is here, once was,

3Talo ennen, linna muinen,A house once, a castle of old,

4Mut nyt on kumia korpi,But now there's an eerie swamp,

5Kolme korvessa lähettä,Three sent in the forest's edge,

6Kolme on lohta lähtehessä:Three salmon in the spring:

7Yks on lohi nuoren neion,One salmon for the young maiden,

8Toinen nuoren morsiamen,Another for the young bride,

9Kolmas on lesen emänän.The third for the widow's matron.

10Ämmä kun vasten vastaeli:The crone retorted sharply:

11"En oo lento enk oo leski"I'm no widow, no spouse,

12Enk ole varatoin vaimoNor a destitute wife,

13Enkä turvatoin tutilasNor a homeless tenant,

14Enkä saavan saatettava.Nor one needing guidance.

15Kolm' on poika miulla:I have three sons:

16Yks on Ruotsissa rovasti,One's a dean in Sweden,

17Toinen on piispa pappilassa,Another a bishop at church,

18Kolmas on kotona herra."The third, home's master."

19Puuttui surma kuulemaan,Death came to listen,

20Seinän alle seisomaan,Stood beneath the wall,

21Tappo Ruotsista rovastin,Killed the dean from Sweden,

22Toisen piispan pappilasta,The bishop from the rectory,

23Kolmannen kotonta herran.The master from his home.

24Tuo sitt ämmä äijän itkiThen the crone wept for her man,

25Sekä vahvasti valitti:And wailed fiercely:

26"Nyt oon lento, nyt oon leski,"Now I'm a widow, now bereft,

27Nyt olen varatoin vaimo,Now a destitute wife,

28Nyt on turvaton tutilas,Now a homeless tenant,

29Nyt on saavan saatettava."Now one needing guidance."

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.