Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Complete. Anonymous

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       If the forest be not levelled,

       And the branches burned to ashes."

       Wainamoinen, wise and ancient,

       Made himself an axe for chopping,

       Then began to clear the forest,

       Then began the trees to level,

       Felled the trees of all descriptions,

       Only left the birch-tree standing

       For the birds a place of resting,

       Where might sing the sweet-voiced cuckoo,

       Sacred bird in sacred branches.

       Down from heaven came the eagle,

       Through the air be came a-flying,

       That he might this thing consider;

       And he spake the words that follow:

       "Wherefore, ancient Wainamoinen,

       Hast thou left the slender birch-tree,

       Left the birch-tree only standing?"

       Wainamoinen thus made answer:

       "Therefore is the birch left standing,

       That the birds may liest within it,

       That the eagle there may rest him,

       There may sing the sacred cuckoo."

       Spake the eagle, thus replying:

       Good indeed, thy hero-judgment,

       That the birch-tree thou hast left us,

       Left the sacred birch-tree standing,

       As a resting-place for eagles,

       And for birds of every feather,

       Even I may rest upon it."

       Quickly then this bird of heaven,

       Kindled fire among the branches;

       Soon the flames are fanned by north-winds,

       And the east-winds lend their forces,

       Burn the trees of all descriptions,

       Burn them all to dust and ashes,

       Only is the birch left standing.

       Wainamoinen, wise and ancient,

       Brings his magic grains of barley,

       Brings he forth his seven seed-grains,

       Brings them from his trusty pouches,

       Fashioned from the skin of squirrel,

       Some were made from skin of marten.

       Thence to sow his seeds he hastens,

       Hastes the barley-grains to scatter,

       Speaks unto himself these measures:

       "I the seeds of life am sowing,

       Sowing through my open fingers,

       From the hand of my Creator,

       In this soil enriched with ashes,

       In this soil to sprout and flourish.

       Ancient mother, thou that livest

       Far below the earth and ocean,

       Mother of the fields and forests,

       Bring the rich soil to producing,

       Bring the seed-grains to the sprouting,

       That the barley well may flourish.

       Never will the earth unaided,

       Yield the ripe nutritious barley;

       Never will her force be wanting,

       If the givers give assistance,

       If the givers grace the sowing,

       Grace the daughters of creation.

       Rise, O earth, from out thy slumber,

       From the slumber-land of ages,

       Let the barley-grains be sprouting,

       Let the blades themselves be starting,

       Let the verdant stalks be rising,

       Let the ears themselves be growing,

       And a hundredfold producing,

       From my plowing and my sowing,

       From my skilled and honest labor.

       Ukko, thou O God, up yonder,

       Thou O Father of the heavens,

       Thou that livest high in Ether,

       Curbest all the clouds of heaven,

       Holdest in the air thy counsel,

       Holdest in the clouds good counsel,

       From the East dispatch a cloudlet,

       From the North-east send a rain-cloud,

       From the West another send us,

       From the North-west, still another,

       Quickly from the South a warm-cloud,

       That the rain may fall from heaven,

       That the clouds may drop their honey,

       That the ears may fill and ripen,

       That the barley-fields may rustle."

       Thereupon benignant Ukko,

       Ukko, father of the heavens,

       Held his counsel in the cloud-space,

       Held good counsel in the Ether;

       From the East, he sent a cloudlet,

       From the North-east, sent a rain-cloud,

       From the West another sent he,

       From the North-west, still another,

       Quickly from the South a warm-cloud;

       Joined in seams the clouds together,

       Sewed together all their edges,

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