sunstorm
BlossomBallet
Sat, 13/09/2014 - 23:22
Thanks a lot sunstorm! And thanks for the links too.
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Sylvia's Christmas Song
So Christmas has come again to the North,
it has also come to our hearts
And Christmas trees shed brightly their gleam
on little cottages now
But up in the perch there is still only
the cage confining my chirper
And the wail of this prison got silent
Oh, who could recall the singer's sorrow?
Where cypresses smell even now in Winter,
I'm sitting on a branch of the grandest tree
Where water looms, wine is most foamy
and the weather is always like in May
And I see Etna from afar looking so beautiful
Ah, all this charms and dazes my mind
And tunes sound gently in the groves
Who could tell of a more plentiful joy!
The brightest of stars, shed your shine
upon my far-away Finland!
And then when your twinkle fades,
bless the land of my memories!
Another like it I won't find anywhere,
Finland will always be my most loved and dear!
And in gratitude the song of Sylvia sounds,
and always sounds the most harmonious song
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Translations of "Sylvian joululaulu"
English #1, #2
Comments
Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stand With Ukraine!
About translator
The lyrics of this song come from a poem originally written in Swedish by Zacharias Topelius, and the music was later composed by Karl Collan. In 1918, the lyrics were adapted into Finnish by Martti Korpilahti.
Sylvia refers to a bird whose scientific name is Sylvia atricapilla (commonly known as blackcap). The song talks about a bird of this specie that has emigrated from Finland to Sicily and is longing for its homeland trapped in a cage. Finland was under the Russian rule by the time the original poem was written, so it is thought that the bird and the cage may represent both countries.
My translation is not so poetic, but then again I wanted to stay close to the original to be more educational, so to speak. For nicer translations, I recommend you to check these links:
http://www.luminarium.org/suomenrunous/sylvia.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10_hdusZm_0