Nocturne by Eino Leino (1878-1926)
The corncrake's song rings in my ears,
above the rye a full moon sails;
this summer night all sorrow clears
and woodsmoke drifts along the dales,
I do not laugh or grieve, or sigh;
the forest's darkness breathes nearby,
the red of clouds where day sinks deep,
the blue of windy hills asleep,
the twinflowers scent, the water's shade;
of these my heart's own song is made.
You, girl as sweet as summer hay,
my heart's great peace, I sing to you,
O my devotion, tune and play
a wreath of oak twigs, green and new.
I have stopped chasing Jack-o'-Lantern,
I hold gold from the Demon's mountain;
around me life tightens its ring,
time stops, the vane has ceased to swing;
the road before me through the gloom
is leading to the unknown room.
-translated by Keith Bosley.
Eino Leino is the most loved Finnish poet. He was born in Paltamo, Kainuu region, Northern Finland. Nature, love and despair are frequent themes in his works. Leino is held to be the most important shaper of national romanticism in Finnish literature.
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