Page:Kalevala (Kirby 1907) v1.djvu/38

18

Let the tender blade spring upward,

Let the earth support and cherish.

Might of earth will never fail us,

Never while the earth existeth,

When the Givers are propitious,

And Creation’s daughters aid us.

“Rise, O earth, from out thy slumber,

Field of the Creator, rouse thee,

Make the blade arise and flourish,

Let the stalks grow up and lengthen,

That the ears may grow by thousands,

Yet a hundredfold increasing,

By my ploughing and my sowing,

In return for all my labour.

“Ukko, thou of Gods the highest,

Father, thou in heaven abiding,

Thou to whom the clouds are subject,

Of the scattered clouds the ruler,

All thy clouds do thou assemble,

In the light make clear thy counsel,

Send thou forth a cloud from eastward,

In the north-west let one gather,

Send thou others from the westward,

Let them drive along from southward,

Send the light rain forth from heaven,

Let the clouds distil with honey,

That the corn may sprout up strongly,

And the stalks may wave and rustle.”

Ukko, then, of Gods the highest,

Father of the highest heaven,

Heard, and all the clouds assembled,

In the light made clear his counsel,

And he sent a cloud from eastward,

In the north-west let one gather,

Others, too, he sent from westward,

Let them drive along from southward,

Linked them edge to edge together,

And he closed the rifts between them.

Then he sent the rain from heaven,

And the clouds distilled sweet honey,