Olin ennen mies minäi

SKVR VII2 1760·Suistamo·1845·Collector: Europaeus, D. E. D.

In the SKVR edition: Suistamo. Eur. I, n. 26. -45.

SKVR textEnglish

1Olin ennen mies minäi,I was once a man myself,

2Miessä nuorro, naimatonna,As a young man, unwed,

3Piin piikaiset hyvänä,Considered the maids good,

4Vaimot pienet valkiana.The little wives as fair.

5Pirukos minuni petti,Did the devil betray me,

6Häjy henki hämmenteli,The vile spirit misled,

7Vei mieron vuotehelle.Led the unwed to bed.

8Ei isoni, ei emoniNeither my father, nor mother,

9Eikä valtavanhempani,Nor my mighty elders,

10Itse mie poloinen poikaI, the wretched boy myself,

11Pol'in puulle pyöriälle,Burned onto a spinning tree,

12Varvulle varattomalle.A destitute stake.

13Oisipa minulle ollutIf only I had

14Puita pyörimättömiä,Non-spinning trees,

15Varpoja varallisia.Prosperous stakes.

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.