Ken miittii mereltä naia
In the SKVR edition: Toksova, Purnu. Saxbäck 895. 59.
SKVR textEnglish
1Ken miittii mereltä naia,Who invites a bride from the sea,
2Ei tuonne hevoista huoliThey care not for horses there,
3Eikä rauta rattahiiNor iron for the wheels,
4Eikä vaski valjahii.Nor bronze for the harness.
5Selvä on merellä seissä,Clear it stands on the sea,
6Laulu kuuluu lahelta,Song echoes from the bay,
7Pilli soitto Pietarista.Pipe music from Petersburg.
8Sie kun heität, mie alotan,When you cease, I begin,
9Mie alotan aika laulun,I begin the ancient song,
10Otan nuotin notkiamman.Take a more supple tune.
11Sie alota aika tanssi,You start the sacred dance,
12Tuo on helppo hengellein,Easy for the spirit,
13Tuo ei ruumista rutistaIt strains not the body,
14Eikä hanki hartahia.Nor breeds callused hands.
15Arki aamulla tulloo,Workday comes at dawn,
16Tulloo maire Maantakaamu,Cheerful Road-Taker comes,
17Alkaat ammatit ajellaTasks begin their course,
18Ja kysellä kymmeniekat.And tithes are demanded.
19Mie kun äänein alennan,When I lower my voice,
20Pannoo kun pajuinen pilli,Like a willow flute placed,
21Mie kun äänein ylennän,When I raise my voice,
22Soip kun soria kanteloinen.Rings like a slender kantele.
23Miks on miulla ääni vieno,Why is my voice so tender,
24Ääni vieno, nuotti hieno?A tender voice, fine note?
25Siks on mulla ääni vieno,Therefore my voice is tender,
26Ääni vieno, nuotti hieno:Tender voice, fine note:
27Emo niitti pitkän pellon,Mother sowed the long field,
28Mie vaan itkin pitkän itkun,I only wept a long weep,
29Pitkän itkun pientarella,A long weep on the small sill,
30Piennä penkiltä putosin,Small, I fell from the bench,
31Lassa lankesin jakulta.Into the mud I tumbled from the edge.
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.
- 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-017983 · Read at SKS ↗
Added by RunoVerse: the English translations, the song types, the verse numbers and the links.