NOCTURNE

Eino Leino(1878-1926)

The song of the corn crake in my ears,

a full moon over the cob heads;

for a summer night happiness is mine,

in swidden smoke the valleys are enshrouded.

I don't rejoice, I don't grieve, sigh;

but the dark of the wood fetch to me,

the crimson of the cloud, in which the day drowns,

the shimmer of the windy ridge, which is sleeping,

the fragrance of the twinflower and the shadows of the waters;

from them the song of my heart I compose.

To you I sing maiden, summer hay,

the great silence of my heart,

my faith, sound as melodies,

a garland of oak leaves green, fresh.

No longer am I pursuing the will-o'-the-wisp,

in my hand is the gold of happiness;

around me diminishes the ring of life;

time stands, sleeps the weathercock;

before me a shadowy road

into an unknown cottage goes.

Nocturne has been translated from the collection Talvi-yö(1905).

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