LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,111)
  • Text Authors (19,486)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
Translation by William Forsell Kirby (1844 - 1912)

Kullervon kuolema
Language: Finnish (Suomi) 
Kuoro
 Kullervo, Kalervon poika,
 Otti koiransakeralle,
 Läksi tietä telkkimähän,
 Korpehen kakoamahan,
 Kävi matkoi vähäsen,
 Astui tietä jikkaraisen;
 Tuli tuolle saarekselle,
 Tuolle pailalle tapahtui,
 Kuss'oli piian pillannunna,
 Turmellutemonsa tuoman.

 Siin'itki hana nurmi,
 Aho armihin valitti,
 Nuoret heinät helliteli,
 Kuikutti kukat kanervan
 Tuota päan pillamusta,
 Emon tuoman turmelusta.

 Eikä moussut nuori heinä,
 Kasvanut kanervan kukka,
 Ylennyt sijalla sillä,
 Tuolla paikalla pahalla,
 Kuss'oli piian pillannunna,
 Emon tuoman turmellunna.

 Kullervo, Kalervon poika,
 Tempasi terävän miekan,
 Katselevi, kääntelevi,
 Kyselevi, tietelevi,
 Kysyi mieltä miekaltansa,
 Tokko tuon tekisi mieli
 Syoä syylistä lihoa,
 Viallista verta juoa.

 Miekka mietti miehen mielen,
 Arvasi uron pakinan,
 Vastasi sanalla tuolla:
 "Miks'en söisi mielelläni,
 Söisi syylistä lihoa,
 Viallista verta joisi?
 Syön lihoa syyttömänki,
 Juon verta viattomanki."

 Kullervo, Kalervon poika,
 Sinisukka äijön lapsi,
 Pään peltohon sysäsi,
 Perän painoi kankahasen,
 Kären käänti rintahansa,
 Itse iskihe kärelle.
 Siihen surmansa sukesi,
 Kuolemansa kohtaeli.

 Se oli surma nuoren miehen,
 Kuolo Kullervo urohon,
 Loppu ainakin urosta,
 Kuolema kovaosaista.

Text Authorship:

  • from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Kalevala, no. 36 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957), "Kullervon kuolema", op. 7 no. 2, from symphony Kullervo, sinfoninen runo mezzosopraanolle, baritonille, mieskuorolle ja orkesterille, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • ENG English (William Forsell Kirby) , "Kullervo's death", written 1907
  • FRE French (Français) (Louis-Antoine Léouzon Le Duc) , "La Mort de Kullervo", first published 1845


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 51
Word count: 149

Kullervo's death
Language: English  after the Finnish (Suomi) 
CHORUS
Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring,
At his side the black dog taking,
Tracked his path through trees to forest,
Where the forest rose the thickest.
But a short way had he wandered,
But a little way walked onward,
When he reached the stretch of forest,
Recognized the spot before him,
Where he had seduced the maiden,
And his mother's child dishonoured.

There the tender grass was weeping,
And the lovely spot lamenting,
And the young grass was deploring,
And the flowers of heath were grieving,
For the ruin of the maiden,
For the mother's child's destruction.

Neither was the young grass sprouting,
Nor the flowers of heath expanding,
Nor the spot had covered over,
Where the evil thing had happened,
Where he had seduced the maiden,
And his mother's child dishonoured.

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring,
Grasped the sharpened sword he carried,
Looked upon the sword and turned it,
And he questioned it and asked it.
And he asked the sword's opinion,
If it was disposed to slay him,
To devour his guilty body,
And his evil blood to swallow.

Understood the sword his meaning,
Understood the hero's question,
And it answered him as follows:
"Wherefore at my heart's desire,
Should I not thy flesh devour,
And drink up thy blood so evil,
I who guiltless flesh have eaten,
Drank the blood of those who sinned not?"

Kullervo, Kalervo's offspring,
With the very bluest stockings,
On the ground the haft set firmly,
On the heath the hilt pressed tightly,
Turned the point against his bosom,
And upon the point he threw him,
Thus he found the death he sought for,
Cast himself into destruction.

Even so the young man perished,
Thus died Kullervo the hero,
Thus the hero's life was ended,
Perished thus the hapless hero.

Text Authorship:

  • by William Forsell Kirby (1844 - 1912), "Kullervo's death", written 1907 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Finnish (Suomi) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Kalevala, no. 36
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-09-08
Line count: 51
Word count: 293

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris