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. 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. 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. History Due to Swedish occupation of Finland, from 1150 to 1809, there has not been much documented on the history of Finnish poetry. Only until the 19th century did efforts pioneered by Elias Lönnrot begin in collecting old folkloric and mythical material in the Northern parts of the country. In 1809 Russia annexed Finland and in doing so imposed military sanctions on Sweden. During this time Russian censorship severely limited the publication of Finnish literature and from 1850 to 1860 imperial decree forbad the publication of any work not dealing with politics or religion including folkloric poems, songs, and tales. Authorities claimed this repression of literature was said to be in the protection of the working classes, the only readers of Finnish poetry, against ‘nonreligious and nonutilitarian’ motives which would dissuade them from work. A morally protective view continued to be held by publishers aligned with the church up until 1964 when restrictions on printing and publication alleviated. For the most part Russian culture did not interfere with the thematic representation of Finnish poetry as the Russians encouraged any sort of move which distanced them from their former Swedish rulers. Prior to this between 1766 and 1788 folk poetry saw a revival among upper classes who mostly spoke Swedish. Between 1864 and 1870 Aleksis Kivi, a writer and poet, was the first to publish his work in the Finnish language. Since then, national interest in Finnish poetry