Lauluja ja ballaadeja

Burns, Robert, 1759-1796Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 76K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Lauluja ja ballaadeja by Robert BurnsAuthor: Burns, Robert, 1759-1796,Language: Finnish, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: May 11, 2005

Editor's review

This Finnish translation of Robert Burns's poems and ballads gathers representative lyrical and narrative works. Burns is known for writing close to folk speech and steeped in musicality; many of these pieces were originally tied to tunes, and even in translation their rhythm and plain feeling come through. The collection includes songs of love, friendship, and everyday life alongside narrative ballads with a story to tell, making it well suited to reading aloud and to browsing in short selections. For readers curious about how Scottish literature entered Nordic reading circles, this translation offers an interesting vantage point; those who love folk-song traditions and lyric poetry will also find pleasure here. It is best treated as a small volume to open at random, not necessarily read in order, with attention to the cadence and emotion of the language.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who enjoy lyric poetry and folk-song traditions
Readers interested in Scottish literature and Burns's work
Finnish readers who want to encounter a translation's style
General readers looking for light reading in short poems

Not a good fit for

Readers with no Finnish who lack a parallel text
Academic readers seeking a systematic study of Burns's life and background
Readers who want the English originals to experience the original rhythm

Reading tips

Start with short lyrics to feel the rhythm, then move on to the more narrative ballads.
Try reading aloud or softly chanting to better sense Burns's ties to musical tradition.
Use an English or Chinese translation alongside for comparison, focusing on tone and imagery.
Don't read it all at once; dip in as the mood takes you, as everyday short reading.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Which of Burns's works does this book collect?

A Finnish translation of his poems and ballads, including short lyrics and narrative ballads, leaning toward a singable, read-aloud folk tradition rather than a scholarly annotated edition.

Can I read this book without knowing Finnish?

Reading it directly poses a language barrier. It can serve as a parallel text alongside an English or Chinese translation; if your main goal is to learn Burns's content, start with a version you can read comfortably.

How does reading Burns's ballads differ from ordinary poems?

Ballads tend to be narrative and musical, suited to reading aloud or chanting, with attention to rhythm and repetition; ordinary lyrics allow a more leisurely appreciation of imagery and feeling. Both can be read in selections, not necessarily straight through.

Comments

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About the author

Burns, Robert, 1759-1796 Author

Robert Burns (1759–1796) was a Scottish poet known for writing in Scots and for collecting and adapting traditional songs. The library holds five of his works, including Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Tam O'Shanter, The Letters of Robert Burns, the Finnish translation Lauluja ja ballaadeja, and the Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Robert Burns. These works span poetry, narrative verse, letters, and songs, drawing mainly on Scottish rural life, love, nature, and folk tradition, in plain and musical language often suited to singing. His collecting and writing of songs had a lasting influence on the preservation and spread of Scottish folk song, and his poetry became an important source of vernacular lyricism in later English literature. Because the library's records on his life are limited, this note focuses on the subjects and style of his works rather than speculating about his biography.