| Helkavirsiä | |
| Author: | Eino Leino |
| Country: | Finland |
| Language: | Finnish |
| Genre: | Poetry |
| Publisher: | Otava, Helsinki |
| Pub Date: | 1903 (part I), 1916 (part II) |
| Pages: | 160 |
Helkavirsiä (Swedish: Helkasånger; English: Whitsongs) is a two-part poetry collection by the Finnish poet Eino Leino, published in 1903 and 1916 respectively.[1] Leino wrote the first part in Kangasniemi, in Central Finland, in the summer of 1903, while staying at the summer house of his friend and fellow writer, Otto Manninen.[2]
The collection draws inspiration from the country's national epic Kalevala and other Finnish mythology, merging legends and ballads with modern themes and structures.[3]
Helkavirsiä is considered not only Leino's breakthrough and one of his most notable works, but also seminal in the development of modern Finnish poetry and wider cultural identity.[4] [5]