The motif of the way in the work of the poets of Finland in the 20th century

Abstract

The path motif is one of the major dominants in the works of prominent 20thcentury poetsof Finland, both Finnish and Swedishnative speakers. Understanding life as a road is what Eino Leino shares in common with Uuno Kailas, Paavo Haavikko, Risto Ahti, Heli Laaksonen, Edith Södergran, and Ralf Nordgren. Their position coincides with the creative concepts of Alexander Blok and the ideas of pilgrimage in European literature and in Kalevalian poetry. 20th-century Finnish poetry falls into all- European line. But in Finnish poetry, the path motif has existed since the epic songs: Lemminkäinen’s escape, folklore heroes’ journey in search of a bride, and Kalevalians’ quest to recover the Sampo. Furthermore, travelers’ purposes ranged from noble and holy to everyday and mundane. In the early 20th century, Finnish neo-Romanticists, referring to the history of national culture, travelled frequently to Finnish and Russian Karelia. Since the 1920s, poets have been referring to the road image as the “holy road of calling” (Uuno Kailas) a singer has no right to turn away from. In post-World War II poetry, moving in a circle or “back and forth” (Risto Ahti) is, in any case, moving forward. The important thing is not to get stranded, not to run into a wall. The path dominant becomes deeply intertwined with the image of a home, as the path motif does with the image of time, life cycle, and biography. A real, geographical, biographical, and spiritual path become one, and on that path high is combined with low or even vile. In modern Finnish poetry, the path theme found a new life with different, sometimes not matching nuances, while still remaining relevant and arguably primary.