Ma Waene Tardo Liin

So much of Estonian history telling and retelling focuses on four years, 1918, 1940, 1944, and 1991. Everything else is often boiled down to the nationalist refrain of "800 years of slavery". But was it really 800 years of pure slavery for the Estonian nationalist soul that only began to thaw with the writings of Kristjan Jaak Peterson?

The poetry of Käsu Hans, an early 18th century poet says no. Hans was an Estonian poet from Tartumaa who is famous for his lengthy metric lament, "Oh! Ma Waene Tardo Liin" (Oh, my poor Tartu city) which was written in 1708 during the peak of the Great Northern War between the Swedish and Russian empire that scarred Estonia so deep that it took decades to recover demographically.

In other words, a lot of Estonians were killed. Ever wonder why so many Estonians look the same? Because there were so few leftover at the end of the Great Northern War. While Käsu Hans' writing is interesting because it a) dispels the myth of Estonians being intellectual zeros during the Age of Enlightenment, and b) provides a stirring account of one of the most destructive eras in Estonian history, the real gem in his poetry is the language. Here's an example:

Oh! ma waene Tardo Liin:
Mes sündi nüüd siin minnoga
Perratu ma olle siin:
Kes woib mo päle Kaeda?
Mo Pat mulle teggi sedda,
Et mul johtu ni suur Hedda,
Sedde pea nüüd tundma siin,
Oh! ma waene Tardo Liin.

Can any of you decipher this Estonian, 300 years after it was written?