Finnish poetry

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Finnish poetry is the poetry from Finland. It is usually written in the Finnish language or Swedish language, but can also include poetry written in Northern Sámi or other Sámi languages. It has its roots in the early folk music of the area, and still has a thriving presence today.

The retrieval of these old folk songs in the 19th century reinvigorated the countries sense of poetic identity and influenced later poets. The best-known opus of Finnish poetry is the mythical epic Kalevala, compiled by Elias Lönnrot. Arguably the Kalevala established Finland in equal status with Sweden as a national language.^[1]

Poetry continues to be popular in Finland today and is marked by the individual directions its poets take not limited to traditional schools or ideologies.^[2] The contemporary form has taken on a conversational, matter-of-fact description often unmotivated by social, political, or moral agendas. The worlds of everyday life are prominent environments for discussing suffering, distortion of minds and absurd sequences of events.