Finnish to English: Karelian Folk Music Ensemble - Tui Tui Tuomen Kukka

Could anyone please help me with the translation of this song? I am really sorry, but I can't find the lyrics anywhere on the internet :[ Here's a link to the song --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS_U1C3MGc8

Thank you so, so, so much to anyone who can help :]

I got interested and wrote down the words. Its quite abundant in archaic words which will take some work to properly translate. The trouble is, there are a few line endings out of which I cannot make complete sense. It's almost like being somehow deaf to the exact words. They seem not to fit the trochaic tetrameter that is apparent in most of the other verses.

Sorry, took a while to find the time to get back to this translation.

Parts of this lament song seem to date back to the Finnish national epic The Kalevala and it's sister volume The Kanteletar, in which poems are divided on basis of their themes. There is a large section of poems about women unsuccessful in finding their place in life or remaining unmarried, which was a miserable fate at the time. This song follows that tradition.

The song is rich in metaphors, making an apple and growing saplings for giving birth to a baby girl and raising a child. Also being put on a moving tree is figurative speech.

I didn't even try to retain the tetra trochees of the original in the translation.


Tui tui tuomen kukka
Lament song

Tui tui, tui tui tuomen kukka
Hey ho, hey ho hagberry flower
eipä tiijjä muamo rukka
little does poor mother know
missä lapsi lauleleepi
where goes her child a-singing
heliästi heitteleepi
merrily a-swaying
soriasti soitteleepi
pleasantly a-playing
kesolinnun kielosella
with a tongue like summer bird’s
talvirastahan tavalla
in the manner of a winter thrush

Lennä kiuruna kivellä
Flit between rocks as a skylark
rastahana rauniolla
as a thrush upon stones
Voi miun ettonen emoni
Oh, my dear kind mother
sekä mairee mammoseni
and my sweet mommy
Tee miulle parempi paita
Sew me a better shirt
lyhyempi liinaviitta
a shorter linen cape
jottei kastu kasteessa
as to not get wet in dew
jottei kastu kastaessa
to not get wet in water

Voi miun ettonen emoni
Oh my dear kind mother
sekä mairee mammoseni
and my sweet mommy
Osasit omenan tehhä
You were an able apple maker
taisit taimet kasvatella
saplings you could grow
et osannut istutella
but knew not how to plant them
Panit puille pyöriville
Put me up on rolling trees
varvuille vapiseville
set me on shaking twigs
Varpa varu, mie vapisin
While the twig swayed, I shivered
lehti liekku mie lepotin
as the leaf rocked, I trembled
puu kun pyöri mie putosin
when the tree rolled I fell down

Mänin suolle sotkemahan
I went to the marsh to dig
pellolle pusertamahan
there to work on the field
Putos sormus sormestani
A ring slipped off my finger
saraperä peukalosta
a trinket from my thumb

Mänin itkien kotihin
I ran home crying
Emo katso ikkunasta
While looking out of the window
emo lasten vastaeli
asked the mother of the children
mitäs itket tyttäreni
why do you cry my daughter
Sitä itken mie emoni
This is why I cry dear mommy
putos sormus sormestani
a ring slipped off my finger
saraperä peukalosta
a trinket from my thumb

Voi miun ettonen emoni
Oh my dear kind mother
teki viisi tyttölasta
gave birth to five girl children
miut tek kurjan kuuenneksi
the sixth she bore was miserable me
Viisi vihkihin lähetti
The five she sent off to their weddings
miun kurjan kotihe heitti
poor me she left at home
punamarjan poimijaksi
to become a redberry picker
sinimarjan silpijäksi
a blueberry gatherer
vaapukan valitsijaksi
a raspberry chooser

Poimin puoloja putinan
I picked a kegful of cowberries
va’in täyen vaapukkoja
a heaping bowlful of raspberries

Omg, thank you very much! That's a wonderful translation and a lovely song :] I've read the Kalevala and I loved it, and now I can understand the song more fully. Again, thank you for the work you've put in this, I really appreciate it.

*I didn't know about the Kanteletar, thank you for mentioning. Now I shall look for more info about it :]