Finnish Song

Finnish Song

IF the loved one,the well-known one,

Should return as he departed,

On his lips would ring my kisses,

Though the wolf’s blood might have dyed them;

And a hearty grasp I’d give him,

Though his finger-ends were serpents[250].

Wind!Oh,if thou hadst but reason,

Word for word in turns thou’dst carry,

E’en though some perchance[251]might perish

’Tween two lovers so far distant.

All choice morsels I’d dispense with,

Table-flesh of priests neglect too,

Sooner than renounce[252]my lover，

Whom,in Summer having vanquish’d,

I in Winter tamed still longer.

1810.