Lauluyhtye Rajaton: "Ikävöi, ihminen"

I own nothing. I just love the song, and thought I'd share it. Music by Juha Tapio, lyrics by Eino Leino, translation by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, typos by yours truly.

Ikävöi, ihminen,
kaipaa kauneinta muiston ja toiveen,
päiviä lapsuuden,
aikoja armaita hempeän hoiveen,
isää ja äitiä,
veljiä, siskoja vierailla mailla,
untesi neitiä,
häntä, mi pois meni hämärien lailla.
(Yearn, O man,
long for thy fondest hope and memory,
For thy childhood days,
the times when thou wast lovingly cared for,
For thy father and mother,
thy brothers and sisters in a far-off land,
For the maiden of thy dreams,
who passed like the twilight.)

Muistatko aikaa,
milloin sun aamusi nous elon kultaan,
lempesi taikaa,
riemuja, ammoin jo menneitä multaan,
retkiä marjassa,
laineita soiluvan salmen ja lahden,
käyntejä karjassa,
kesä-yön ääniä yksin ja kahden?
(Dost thou remember the time
when thy morning rose golden,
The magic of thy love,
the joys that are now long gone,
The walks picking berries,
the splash of soft waters on the bay,
And herding the cattle,
listening to the summer night alone and with her?)

Kaipaatko milloin
pois ajan, paikan ja kuolonkin taaksi,
istuen illoin,
tuntien hiljaa maatuvas maaksi,
kun kaikki haipuu
kaunis niin kauas ja päämäärä pyhä
vitkahan vaipuu,
vaikka sa korkeelle kurkotat yhä?
(Dost thou ever long to be beyond time,
beyond place and death,
Sitting in the evening,
feeling thyself slowly returning to the soil,
As everything beautiful disappears,
thy noble purpose
Slowly evaporates,
however high thou still dost aspire?)

Itketkö, ihminen,
silloin sa kauneinta tiedon ja tunnon,
hienointa sydämen,
herkintä pyrkivän pyyteen ja kunnon?
Kuuletko hukkaan
juoksevan hetkiä mittaavan hiekan?
Päivies kukkaan
näätkö jo tähtäävän kuuraisen miekan?
(Dost thou weep, O man,
for the lost beauty of knowledge and feeling,
The finest feelings of thy heart,
thy greatest ambitions and strength?
Canst thou hear the sands
measuring thy time running out?
Canst thou see the hoary sword
poised to cut down the flower of thy days?)

Ikävöi, ihminen,
taa ajan, paikan ja tuonenkin laineen!
Rannalta tuskien
nää pyhä tähtesi yli yön ja aineen!
Kultainen helää
ihmisen ikävöivän sielussa kieli.
Etsimys elää,
maaksi kun maatuu jo tyytyvän mieli.
(Yearn, O man,
beyond time, beyond place and death!
On this shore of sorrow see thy sacred star beyond
the night and waters!
A golden string forever resounds in the human soul,
and the yearning lives,
Though those content with what they had moulder
in the ground.)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• acapella
• rajaton
• boundless

[EneriGiilaan]

Well - I think the translation is just excellent, almost perfect - but.

But I have to agree with some others that translating 'yli yön ja aineen' to 'beyond the night and waters' almost ruins the whole thing. '[W]aters' should be 'matter' (as in 'all material'). The issue is to reach for the transcend, past the mere material existence - so replacing 'matter' with the lame 'waters' is almost as if the translator had missed the whole point of the poem. IMO of course.

[TiiTiWee]

@EneriGiilaan I was kind of wondering about the same things but decided not to start poking the translation. It's the one that is on the booklet that comes with the album in case you're interested. I can check the name of the translator for you if you feel like sending them personal feedback. ;)

[TiiTiWee]

@TiiTiWee Oh, never mind. I had already mentioned the translator in the wall of text that includes the lyrics and whatnot.

[Aikosachi]

What CD is it on? they don't have it on I tunes or any of the other sites I get music form. It makes me sad insdie..

[TiiTiWee]

It's on their latest one, "Maa". :) I hope you'll find the song, though. :D

[gromins]

Do you guys know where I can find the lyrics to this song??? I wanna sing along with rajaton!!!

[TiiTiWee]

Click the "More info" thing on the right. You should be able to find both the original Finnish lyrics and the translation into English there. ;)

[sjchan]

this song is just stunning

[illegalusername]

Nätti on

[EneriGiilaan]

@TiiTiWee Thanks - but I guess there is no need for that :)

Overall this is an excellent translation.

[EneriGiilaan]

@EneriGiilaan Yeas - and still one more nitpick. Why 'kuuraisen' is translated as 'hoary' instead of the direct translation available 'frosty'? At least for me the coldness implicated by the 'frosty sword' is a powerful and essential ingredient in the metaphor.

[jimbeem2]

@Otustelija I disagree, I can read the lyrics and feel the sentiment as the words are spoken/sang. The language of music is universal and can be understood by almost anyone no matter what language they speak. I love the work of Rajaton and wish them much success and to keep moving forward, thay are amazing!

[Otustelija]

A translation cannot even touch the feeling and the nuances of the Finnish language. Certainly, translating is even more difficult when translating from an Uralic language into an Indo-European language and from an agglutinative one to a fusional one (and vice versa). A translation only gives you the simplest meaning of the lyrics, nothing more.

[Movielunatic]

Kaunista on!

[quijote091]

You never get tired their clean purity and quality of sound. Kalle F

[bardra1]

@timomastosalo i found it! thanks :)