Thank you so much for taking the time to respond in so much detail! Always nice to read how someone from a different culture and language interprets things!
distracted with listening only how the words sound
I am glad that this worked! Was in some sense the goal. And I am fascinated by the overlapping words. I was in Sweden in 2012 and I could make out some of the words as well when people spoke Swedish.
either have sounds that Finnish language does not have at all
I love this aspect of language. We have so many sounds in my language that the speakers cannot make. I studied linguistics for 3 years and I was rather proficient in the IPA (international phonetic alphabet) so I always learned new sounds that we do not have. Such an interesting field!
And I love the word nutteloos.
You can use it as a new swear word of sorts! It is a really awesome word or actually more an idea. The often-quoted Bible verse, Ecclesiastes 1:2 uses in Afrikaans three or four versions of the word "nutteloos": "tevergeefs", "Alles kom tot niks", "sinloos", and so on. It is interesting that the word nutteloos has not been used in the verse. I think nutteloos is a better translation!
I think the Finnish literal translation is way better
I am so interested in how the Finnish version looks like for a Finnish speaker! Sometimes I hope for the ability to learn all the languages out there! How wonderfully chaotic but insane would the world have looked like. Yes, I was in a black metal stage in my younger life and I think some of the feelings rubbed off on me. Most of my poetry has this "dance with death" element and I got a lot of inspiration from various metal bands' lyrics.
Thanks again for the awesome reply!
RE: The Untranslatability of Ideas: Reading a Poem in Afrikaans and Reflections on Translation