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Juhani Siljo (1888-1918) - original surname Sjögren |
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Finnish poet, ascetic, Nietzschean moralist and idealist, who did not publish much – Siljo produced all his writings in the 1910s – but his influence continued from the 1920s over World War II generation, and also left traces in popular song lyrics. Siljo emphasized honest self-scrutiny, purity, and uprightness. "I have only one passion: a straight line," he wrote. Siljo died of his injuries during the Civil War in 1918 in Tampere. Vastavirtaan kulkee lohen suku. Aallon urho, terässuomupuku, Juhani (Johan Alarik) Siljo was born in Oulu into a sailor family. He was the youngest of five children. Originally Siljo's family name was Sjögren, but in the wake of the great surname change of 1906, Siljo Finnicized his Swedish name. (The national campaign was launched by the writer Johannes Linnankoski.) His father, Aleksander Sjögren, drowned in the Atlantic Ocean in 1897. Siljo's mother, Maria Josefina (Harjapää) Sjögren, a deeply religious woman, took her son early to Pietistic prayer meetings. Although Siljo later utilized Christian symbols and imagery in his poetry, it also had a strong pantheistic element. Siljo once said, that "if believers think that you are a pagan and pagans that you are a believer, think yourself: all right!" Siljo's schoolmates at the Oulun Lyseon Lukio Upper Secondary School
included the future composer Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947). In 1907, Siljo
entered the University of Helsinki in 1907, but he never graduated. A
history professor said of his master thesis that there was a lot of
literary effort but little science. Siljo's studies were financed by
his sisters, and he earned some money by writing reviews and working as
a translator. After conflicting with his teachers, Siljo devoted himself entirely to writing. His first collection of poems, Runoja (1910, Poems), 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 /." These were the words of a person, who was ready to threw bombs to hasten Finland's independence from Russian rule. But in the posthumously published collection Selvään veteen (1919, To clear waters), 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 began his active career as a translator in 1908 with Max Halbe's story Frau Meseck, which had appeared in 1897. It was followed by translations from Novalis, Schiller, Goethe, Nietzsche, Baudelaire, and others. 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. However, he loved exercise and once he walked from Helsinki to Oulu. None of Siljo's books sold well during his life time. Maan puoleen (1914,
Toward the earth) 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 began an affair with the writer
Ain' Elisabet Pennanen, who was married, and who later depicted their
relationship in the novel Kaksi raukkaa (1968, edited by Jarno Pennanen).
They met for the first at a party, where she read aloud one of his
poems. 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. Laisa 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. 'Kahden puolen aikaa' (Kaksi tuskan kuvaa / kahden puolen aitaa: / tuskan tuliaita leikkaa / lemmentietä kaitaa) and 'Loitsu' (Nyt kalleintani / ma esiin manaan) in the collection Selvään veteen were Siljo's veiled confessions of his yearning for Ain' Elisabet. Siljo's rival and friend was the future playwright and novelist Lauri Haarla, who published an article on him titled 'Tuokioita Juhani Siljon viime retkeltä' (1918) in the magazine Valvoja after Siljo's death. During the last years of his life, 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). At the front, he showed almost suicidal courage. "It's a joy and honor to have living targets to shoot," he wrote in the newspaper Keskisuomalainen. Siljo was wounded in the legs in a combat at Orivesi station and then captured by the Reds. The young poet Aaro Hellaakoski managed to sneak in the hospital where he was held. While laying in bed, astonished of the human treatment he had received, Siljo wrote postcards and asked Hellaakoski to send him Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. When Hellaakoski couldn't find a copy of the book anywhere, he sent a German translation of Vincent van Gogh's Letters. Fatally, Siljo refused to have his leg amputated. Juhani Siljo died on May 6, 1918, in Tampere at a military hospital situated at Tammela's school. By that time the city had been conquered by his comrades. He had developed serious gangrene in his foor and died a few days after an operation. 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, all poets with a distinct and significant voice. 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); Juhani Siljo arvostelijana by Eino S. Repo (1947); 'Juhani Siljo', in Aleksis Kivestä Martti Merenmaahan: suomalaisten kirjailijain elämäkertoja (1954); A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Juhani Siljon kirjallisuus- ja taidekäsitys by Marja-Liisa Kunnas (1974); 'Juhani Siljo & Ain' Elisabet Pennanen', in Suurin on rakkaus by Kaija Valkonen, Elina Koivunen (1997); A History of Finland's Literature, edited by John Schoolfield (1998); 'Puoli elämää kokonaisesti' by Juhani Sipilä, in Runot by Juhani Siljo (1999); Ainokaiselleni: näkyvä ja näkymätön Ain'Elisabet Pennasen rakkaudessa Juhani Siljoon by Matti Itkonen (2002); 'Finnishness as a Soulscape Revisited. A Mind’s Journey into Space, Time and Humanity' by Matti Itkonen, in Daseinsanalyse: Jahrbuch für phänomenologische Anthropologie und Psychotherapie, 26 (2010) Selected works:
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