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Juhani Siljo (1888-1918) - original surname Sjögren | |
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Finnish poet, ascetic, Nietzschean dreamer and idealist, who translated works from Novalis, Schiller, Goethe, Nietzsche, and Baudelaire. Although Siljo did not publish much - he produced all his writings in the 1910s - his influence continued from the 1920s over World War II generation, and also left traces in distillated form in popular song lyrics. Siljo emphasized purity, uprightness, and honest self-scrutiny. "I have only one passion: a straight line." Juhani (Johan Alarik) Siljo was born in Oulu into a sailor family as the youngest child of five children. Originally Siljo's surname was Sjögren; Siljo changed his name in 1906. His father, Aleksander Sjögren, drowned in the Atlantic Ocean in 1897. His mother, Maria Josefina (Harjapää) Sjögren, was deeply religious and took her son early to Pietistic prayer meetings. Siljo entered the University of Helsinki in 1907, but he never graduated. After a short period of studies, he devoted himself entirely to writing. His first collection of poems, RUNOJA, appeared in 1910. It already showed some of his central ideas: a poet should have strict ethical principles, avoid compromises, and be faithful to one's individual striving. The opening of 'Excelsior' celebrates clean-hearted idealism and echoes Schopenhauerian concept of will: "Like a strung bow is this will of mine / from the sun I received my order and aim /." But in the posthumously published collection SELVÄÄN VETEEN (1919) Siljo crystallized ironically his youthful, uncompromising view of life: "Rather half life fully than whole life half-hearted - the motto of every 20-year-old." Siljo contributed to Helsingin Sanomat, travelling in 1911 with his writer's fee in Germany and France. Due to his shortage of money, he walked parts of the journey and slept in parks. None of Siljo's books sold well during his life time - MAAN PUOLEEN (1914) sold 164 copies in three years, although it received good reviews. From 1915 to 1916 Siljo worked in Jyväskylä as a library assistant. During this period he also started an affair with the writer Ain' Elisabet Pennanen, who was married, and who later depicted their relationship in the novel Kaksi raukkaa (1968, ed. by Jarno Pennanen). Siljo's poems 'Kahden puolen aikaa' and 'Loitsu' in the collection Selvään veteen were his veiled confessions of his yearning for her. In Pennanen's novel Laisa Helmer falls in love with a young poet, Elias Herkko. Laisa is married to Åke Helmer, a Ph.D., who considers poetry rubbish. Elias doesn't want to marry her which is also her wish - she wants security, not free love. Laila gains success with her play. After the outbreak of the war, Elias joins the army. He dies from his wounds and Laisa's divorce from his husband comes into force. Between the years 1916 and 1917 Siljo was the subeditor of the magazine Valvoja. His life ended tragically. He was a corresponded on the side of White Guards at the Finnish Civil War (1917-18) and was wounded in the legs during a combat in Orivesi. He was captured by the Reds and died on May 6, 1918 in Tampere at a military hospital situated at Tammela's school. At that time the city had been conquered by his comrades after bloody battles. Siljo became a legend, although he did not write much about the war. He paralleled Socialism with leprosy, which comes from the east. "Tuli tauti Idästä - alhaiso vapaus. Moni uskoi; vaaraton tartuntatapaus /" (from 'Spitaali', 1917). Ain' Elisabeth Pennanen met Siljo before his death and edited his last collection, Selvään veteen. It was praised by V.A. Koskenniemi in the magazine Valvoja. Koskenniemi stated that Siljo's poems are surrounded by "beautiful atmosphere of loneliness" and noted that Siljo personifies the sun like Franciscus of Assisi - it is his "father". In 'Vastavirtaan' Siljo declared that one must be ready to swim against the current, like a salmon, to fulfill one's calling. In the 1920s and 1930s, when a great ideological gulf divided artists and writers in their attitude to the Soviet Union, Siljo was an icon of the right-wing Finland. His influence was seen in the work of Uuno Kailas, Yrjö Jylhä, and Aaro Hellaakoski. Vastavirtaan kulkee lohen suku. Aallon urho, terässuomupuku, During his career as a journalist Siljo wrote nearly 200 literary reviews and essays. He published studies of Eino Leino (1912) and Teuvo Pakkala (1917), the play SEPPELÖITY (1918), and a polemic article about literature RAJANKÄYNTIÄ NYKYISEN KIRJALLISUUTEMME SUUNNISTA (1914) under the pseudonym Kimmo. It was written in the form of a debate in which Siljo attacked urbanism, modernism, and internationalism. Compared to Eino Leino (1878-1926) or Otto Manninen (1872-1950), Siljo was more straightforward. Poetry was for him a serious instrument of introspection. Aphorism became him a close and natural form of expressions, as is seen from his journal, Tilikirja (Book of reckoning). It is full of crystallized, sharp notes, which varied from dogmatic opinions to unorthodox insights: "If devout Christians consider you a heathen and heathens a devout Christian, think: all right!" For further reading: Juhani Siljo oman minuutensa rakentajana by Kalle Sorainen (1936); Aleksis Kivestä Saima Harmajaan: suomalaisten kirjailijoiden elämäkertoja (1943); Juhani Siljo arvostelijana by Eino S. Repo (1947); Juhani Siljon kirjallisuus- ja taidekäsitys by Marja-Liisa Kunnas (1974); A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by John Schoolfield (1998); 'Puoli elämää kokonaisesti' by Juhani Sipilä, in Runot by Juhani Siljo (1999) Selected works:
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