Aleksis Kivi
Aleksis Kivi
Aleksis Kivi was a Finnish writer who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, Seitsemän veljestä, published in 1870. He is also known for his 1864 play, Nummisuutarit. Although Kivi was among the very earliest writers of prose and lyrics in Finnish, he is still considered one of the greatest.
"What is that land of hill and dale That is so beautiful, The land aglow with summer days, Land with the northern lights ablaze, Whose beauty all the seasons share, What is that land so fair? There many thousand lakes are bright With twinkling stars at night There many kanteles resound And all around make hillsides sing And on the golden heath firs ring: That is the Finnish land."
"To fall asleep in your embrace, Land of our dreams, what bliss, O you our cradle, you our grave, You the new hope we ever crave, Peninsula so beautiful, Finland for aye our all!"
"Now dig my grave Beneath the bay willows boughs And with blackness cover it over again, There for evermore Go from my domain: I wish to slumber in peace."
"Grove of Tuoni, grove of night! There thy bed of sand is light. Thither my baby I lead. Mirth and joy each long hour yields In the Prince of Tuonis fields Tending the Tuonela cattle. Mirth and joy my babe will know, Lulled to sleep at evening glow By the pale Tuonela maiden. Surely joy hours will hold, Lying in thy cot of gold, Hearing the nightjar singing. Grove of Tuoni, grove of peace! There all strife and passion cease. Distant the treacherous world."
