Tillilli mun emoni

SKVR XIII1 2026·Heinjoki·1912·Collector: Järvi, Hanna

In the SKVR edition: Heinjoki. Järvi 98. 12.

SKVR textEnglish

Runo lapsille.

1Tillilli mun emoniTillilli, my mother

2kasvatti paljon kanoja,raised many hens,

3joukon suuren joutsenia;a great flock of swans;

4kaik hää syötti, kaik hää saatti,all she fed, all she tended,

5kanat aijalle asetti,set the hens in the coop,

6pani minut paimeneksimade me a shepherd

7kanakarjan kaitsijaksi:guardian of the poultry flock:

8tuli haukka, nii hajotti,a hawk came, so scattered them,

9lensi lempo, nii levitti,a demon flew, so dispersed them,

10tuli kokko, nii koppas kaik;an eagle came, snatched all;

11mie jäi itse itkemähänI was left weeping

12ja emoa oottelemahan.and waiting for mother.

13Mut eipä tuo emo tullukkaan;But that mother never came;

14tulikin viimein vieras vaimo,at last came a stranger woman,

15vieras vaimo ja vihanen,a stranger woman, wrathful,

16vitsa ol kierretty kädessä,with a twisted switch in hand,

17kokonainen koivunlatva.a whole birch treetop.

18Löipä lasta armotonta,She struck the pitiless child,

19armotonta, turvatonta,pitiless, unprotected,

20jolla on turva turpehessa,whose safety lies in peat,

21armo kirkon aijan alla,mercy under church-time,

22johon ei tuule kaikki tuuletwhere all winds cannot blow

23eikä saa kaikki satehet:nor all rains reach:

24siel on turva turvattomanthere is safety for the unsafe

25sekä armo armottoman,and mercy for the unmerciful,

26siel on lapset liekutettu,there children are rocked,

27liekutettu, tuuvitettu,rocked, swaddled,

28maito suuhun lämmitetty.milk warmed to their lips.

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.