# Vanhan laulun lyyrikat



## akana

Terve! 

I have been trying to decipher the words to an old hymn, a recording of which I received for Christmas. The hymn was originally recorded in 1949 on an old wire recorder, and is sung by my great grandparents, whom I never met. Considering its age, the recording is quite good, but some of the parts are very distorted, and it is difficult to make out the words. Additionally, their Finnish bears the influence of their Swedish origins, and adopted American home.

After asking around, I have discovered that the hymn is a Finnish translation of "Some Day the Silver Cord Shall Break," sometimes called, "Saved by Grace," written by Fanny Crosby, in the 1800s. I am assuming that the age of the song makes posting the entirety of the lyrics okay. Sakvaka, let me know if that is not the case.

I realize that this involves a lot of guessing, but I would greatly appreciate if you could read what I have so far, correct my mistakes if something doesn't sound right, and/or fill in/correct the bolded parts, which for one reason or another, don't seem right, or were completely indistinguishable (I've typed what I hear). Note that the singers often seemed to sing "a" where it should have been "ä", e.g. _satehet_, instead of _sätehet_. My hope is that more fluent Finnish speakers might be able to think of possibilities that I cannot.

Also, if someone happens to have the words, that would obviously be wonderful! Kiitos paljon!

What I can make out:
Kun kerran kannel *särkylä*
Kuin nyt en silloin laulakaan
Mut *toimii* riemu *herätä*
*Saankalatsisal* kuninkaan


Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
Oi autuana armostaan
Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
Oi autuana armostaan


*Maallinen* murtuu majani
Mut milloin en voi kertoa
Vain mulle kaikki kaikkeni
*Asunnon anteet* taivaasta


Kun kerran päivän *sätehet*
Sammuvat lammen *jutskohon*
Niin herra lausuu hyvin teet
*Syntyä saan maan velpohon*


Niin kerran siksi valvonen
Ja lampuani hoitelen
*On Jeesus portin avattu*
Luokseensa silloin lentelen.


The English version:
Some day the silver cord will break,
And I no more as now shall sing;
But, O the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King!


And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story, saved by grace:
And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story, saved by grace.


Some day my earthly house will fall,
I cannot tell how soon ’twill be,
But this I know—my All in all
Has now a place in Heav’n for me.


Some day when fades the golden sun,
Beneath the rosy tinted west,
My blessed Lord will say, “Well done,“
And I shall enter into rest.


Some day, till then I’ll watch and wait,
My lamp all trimmed and burning bright,
That when my Savior opens the gate,
My soul to him may take its flight.


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## Hakro

akana said:


> *On* kerran kannel *särkyvä*
> Kuin nyt en silloin laulakaan
> *Mutt' oi mi* riemu *herätä*
> *On palatsissa* kuninkaan
> 
> Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
> Oi autuana armostaan
> Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
> Oi autuana armostaan
> 
> *Maallinen* murtuu majani
> Mut milloin*,* en voi kertoa
> Vain mulle *kaikki kaikkeni* *(???)*
> *Asunnon antaa* taivaasta
> 
> Kun kerran päivän *sätehet*
> Sammuvat *lännen* *ruskohon*
> Niin *H*erra lausuu: hyvin teet
> *Syntyä saan maan velpohon* *(???)*
> 
> Niin kerran*,* siksi valvonen
> Ja lampuani hoitelen
> *On Jeesus portin avaten **(???)*
> *Luoksensa* silloin lentelen.


Most of the corrections were easy to do, and the English text helped a lot, but some lines were impossible to decipher – at least to me.


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## akana

Paljon kiitoksia, Hakro! 

It's likely that some of the language is archaic, and it even occurred to me that some may be Finnglish. I think they were singing from memory, because at times, they sing different things. For example, the line "On Jeesus portin avat(?)," one person sings, _avaava_, while the other sings _avattu_. Neither, however, seems to be grammatically correct with _portin_ appearing to be in the accusative.

A question: I noticed that _anne_ appears in wiktionary as an archaic word meaning "gift." Would _asunnon anteet taivaasta_ make sense if it were indeed this archaic form?


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## Määränpää

The contents list of this choir songbook (song #208) is the _only_ result from Google... Everything isn't online yet!


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## akana

Hey, there it is! Well, at least I have the title and first line now—_särkyvä_ is indeed correct


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## Määränpää

akana said:


> For example, the line "On Jeesus portin avat(?)," one person sings, _avaava_, while the other sings _avattu_. Neither, however, seems to be grammatically correct with _portin_ appearing to be in the accusative.
> 
> A question: I noticed that _anne_ appears in wiktionary as an archaic word meaning "gift." Would _asunnon anteet taivaasta_ make sense if it were indeed this archaic form?



1) "on avaava" (_olla_ + present active participle) is the archaic future tense: _On Jeesus portin avaava_ means "Jesus will open the gate".

2) "asunnon anteet taivaasta" would sound really strange to me, and the sentence would lack a verb.


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## Hakro

akana said:


> A question: I noticed that _anne_ appears in wiktionary as an archaic word meaning "gift." Would _asunnon anteet taivaasta_ make sense if it were indeed this archaic form?


I doubt it. It's possible but it's difficult to say as the former line is impossible to understand (to me). 


> For example, the line "On Jeesus portin avat(?)," one person sings, _avaava_, while the other sings _avattu_. Neither, however, seems to be grammatically correct with _portin_ appearing to be in the accusative.


Please note that the line On Jeesus portin avat(?) should rhyme with ...en. 

"On Jeesus portin avaava" sounds understandable but it doesn't rhyme neither with the first line nor the last line, as it should.


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## Määränpää

How about:

But this I know—my All in all
*Vaan* mulle _kaikki-kaikkeni_ ... a funny translation of "my All in all" (God)?

Has now a place in Heav’n for me.
asunnon antaa taivaasta

P.S. I agree with Hakro that the last verse doesn't sound right without a rhyme.


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## Määränpää

all in all = kaikki kaikessa

(I've even heard native Finns drop the case suffix of the last word in _Taru sormusten herrasta_ and use forms such as "Taru sormusten herraa" instead of "Tarua sormusten herrasta"!)


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## Hakro

Määränpää said:


> But this I know—my All in all
> *Vaan* mulle _kaikki-kaikkeni_ ... a funny translation of "my All in all" (God)?


I think you're right, Määränpää!

I hadn't noticed the capital letter in "All in all" = God.


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## MaijaPoppanen

Määränpää said:


> The contents list of this choir songbook (song #208) is the _only_ result from Google... Everything isn't online yet!



I went to the Helsinki university library to see this book. I found it, but unfortunately it was a sheet music, so there was lyrics only for the first verse and the chorus:


*On kerran kannel särkyvä
*
On kerran kannel särkyvä
Kuin nyt, en silloin laulakaan
Mut oi, mi riemu herätä
Saan palatsissa kuninkaan

Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
Oi autuaana armostaan
Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
Oi autuaana armostaan

There is a separate text book where the rest of the lyrics can be found, but I don't know what it's called so I didn't find it.


Curiously enough, there is also another translation of this song: It's called "On kerran kannel kaihoten"


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## akana

MaijaPoppanen said:


> I went to the Helsinki university library to see this book. I found it, but unfortunately it was a sheet music, so there was lyrics only for the first verse and the chorus:
> 
> 
> *On kerran kannel särkyvä
> *
> On kerran kannel särkyvä
> Kuin nyt, en silloin laulakaan
> Mut oi, mi riemu herätä
> Saan palatsissa kuninkaan
> 
> Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
> Oi autuaana armostaan
> Ja katsella saan kasvojaan
> Oi autuaana armostaan
> 
> There is a separate text book where the rest of the lyrics can be found, but I don't know what it's called so I didn't find it.
> 
> 
> Curiously enough, there is also another translation of this song: It's called "On kerran kannel kaihoten"



Voi, suurkiitokset MaijaPoppaselle, että kävitte kirjastossa tarkistamassa! Ja nyt ymmärrän ensimmäisen säkeistön viimeisen rivin täydellisesti. Eli näin: Mutta oi mi riemu. Saan herätä kuninkaan palatsissa.

Pikku hiljaa se tulee selväksi 

Kuulostaisiko alla oleva täysin oudolta?
_Syntyä saan maan lepohon.
_


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