Jo mä jossa olisi

SKVR XIII1 2150·Sakkola·1848·Collector: Reinholm, H. A.

In the SKVR edition: Sakkola. Reinholm N I 50. 48.

SKVR textEnglish

1Jo mä jossa olisi,If I were somewhere,

2Kussa kujertelisiWhere I might lament,

3Ilman armota Jumalan,Without God's mercy,

4Suomata suloisen luojan.Denied the sweet creator's grace.

5Armoton isoton lapsi,A merciless fatherless child,

6Aivoin armoton emotoin;Utterly motherless, without pity;

7Ei o turva tuntiaista,No refuge in this age,

8Sanan ei armon antajaista.No givers of merciful words.

9Iso o kuoltu kuusi vuotta,Father died six years ago,

10Koaunt o kaheksan vuotta;Mother eight years gone;

11Ei o siitte silmin nähty.Unseen by eyes since.

12Silmin nähty, korvin kuultu,Seen with eyes, heard with ears,

13Kui lie kirstu kiini pantu,As the coffin was sealed,

14Rauta nauloilla napattu,Iron nailed shut,

15Kiiätetty kirkko maaha.Buried like a church in earth.

16Nuori nurmi kattehena,Young turf as a shroud,

17Silmill o muhia multaCrumbled soil on my eyes,

18Kirkko kirjava sivussa.A motley grave beside me.

19Miull on turva turpehessa,My shelter is in peat,

20Armo kirkon aian alla.Mercy under the churchyard fence.

21Kun miun kääntyisi kätteen,If my hand were twisted,

22Vääntyisi omaa väkkeeMy own strength bent,

23Someroja poimimaan,To gather gravel,

24Kivvii kokkomaanTo collect stones,

25Päältä ilmoisen issoin,From the lords of the land,

26Päält o vanha vanhempain,From aged parents,

27Päält o ehtoisen em̄oin,From twilight mothers,

28Jo me jossa olisin,Then I would be somewhere,

29Kussa kujertelisin.Where I might lament.

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.