Top 5 Finnish Christmas Songs: Number 2

Varpunen jouluaamuna (A sparrow on Christmas morning). Originally it was a poem by Zacharias Topelius, who is a Swedish Finn, so the poem was originally written in Swedish. He wrote it in 1859, only one year after his own son had passed away, only at the age of one. You can see this in the lyrics. Karl Adolf Houdberg translated the poem in Finnish. The song was composed by Otto Kotilainen in 1913.


Lumi on jo peittänyt kukat laaksosessa,
järven aalto jäätynyt talvipakkasessa.
Varpunen pienoinen, syönyt kesäeinehen,
järven aalto jäätynyt talvipakkasessa.

Pienen pirtin portailla oli tyttökulta:
– Tule, varpu, riemulla, ota siemen multa!
Joulu on, koditon varpuseni onneton,
tule tänne riemulla, ota siemen multa!

Tytön luo nyt riemuiten lensi varpukulta:
– Kiitollisna siemenen otan kyllä sulta.
Palkita Jumala tahtoo kerran sinua.
kiitollisna siemenen otan kyllä sulta!

– En mä ole, lapseni, lintu tästä maasta,
olen pieni veljesi, tulin taivahasta.
Siemenen pienoisen, jonka annoit köyhällen,
pieni sai sun veljesi enkeleitten maasta.

_________________________

Snow has already covered the flowers in the valley,

a wave on the lake frozen in winter freeze.

A small sparrow has eaten his summer food,

a wave on the lake frozen in winter freeze.

On the steps of a small cottage was lovely little girl:

– Come, sparrow, with joy, take a seed from me!

It's Christmas, homeless is the unhappy sparrow of mine,

come here, with joy, take a seed from me!

Happily the lovely sparrow flew to the girl:

– Thankfully I'll take this seed from you.

God'll want to reward you sometime,

thankfully I'll take this seed from you!

– I'm not, my child, a bird from this world,

I'm your little brother, I came from heaven.

The small seed, that you gave to this poor,

got your little brother from the land of angels.