Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/24

4 How the nights closed ever lonely,

And the days were shining lonely.

Only born was Väinämöinen,

And revealed the bard immortal,

Sprung from the divine Creatrix,

Born of Ilmatar, his mother.

Air’s young daughter was a virgin,

Fairest daughter of Creation.

Long did she abide a virgin,

All the long days of her girlhood,

In the Air’s own spacious mansions,

In those far extending regions.

Wearily the time passed ever,

And her life became a burden,

Dwelling evermore so lonely,

Always living as a maiden,

In the Air’s own spacious mansions,

In those far-extending deserts.

After this the maid descending,

Sank upon the tossing billows,

On the open ocean’s surface,

On the wide expanse of water.

Then a storm arose in fury,

From the East a mighty tempest,

And the sea was wildly foaming,

And the waves dashed ever higher.

Thus the tempest rocked the virgin,

And the billows drove the maiden,

O’er the ocean’s azure surface,

On the crest of foaming billows,

Till the wind that blew around her,

And the sea woke life within her.

Then she bore her heavy burden,

And the pain it brought upon her,

Seven long centuries together,

Nine times longer than a lifetime.

Yet no child was fashioned from her,

And no offspring was perfected.

Thus she swam, the Water-Mother,

East she swam, and westward swam she,