Dust and Fire: Doom Metal before Metal even existed
Review of the Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum online facsimile edition (2014) of the Eesti Kirjastuse Kooperatiiv hardcover original (1936)

Alver's true talent is reflected in the poetry to which she was dedicated from the early 1930s, publishing several poems in literary magazines and in “Dust and Fire” (1936), a collection of earlier poetry. It stood out with its artistic maturity and is, on the whole, a song of beauty and of the love of truth. – translation of the Estonian language synopsis.

The poems of hauntings and witches, death and doom, sickness and quarantine in Betti Alver's (1906-1989) early collection Tolm ja tule didn't really ignite feelings of beauty and truth for me. It wasn't until I started thinking of them as the lyrics to black metal or doom metal songs yet to composed that I started to come around.

I was curious to explore the work of Alver after seeing a recent online screening of the documentary film "Betti Alver - Ilmauks on irvakil" (Betti Alver - The Door to the World is Half-Open) (2020) by dir. Enn Lillemets which was arranged by the Estonian Studies Centre/VEMU and Kotkajärve Metsaülikool (Eagle Lake Forest University) here in Toronto, Canada.

Alver is a well-respected poet in Estonian, but communicable translations of her works are few as her texts are heavily reliant on rhyme. After publishing several other early novels, stories and a long poem, "Dust and fire" (1936) was her first anthology collection of about 5 years of early poems. Although the period represented a relative calm before the calamitous World War II and subsequent Soviet and Nazi invasions, Estonia was in its so-called Era of Silence due to a coup d'etat held to forestall a right-wing takeover. Alver was a member of the Arbujad (Soothsayers) Estonian poetry movement and their symbolic and metaphoric poetry could be observed as commentary on the European situation of the time and the competing totalitarian empires.

My google aided literal translations of several of the poems of Tolm ja tuli are below. My apologies in advance for any errors. Tell me if they don't seem like goth or doom metal lyrics to you.

THE DEMON OF FREEDOM
Remain humble in affirmation to others:
it is impossible to want our own destiny,
you be my guide in a journey
in the brownish steamy swamp.

Whatever battles are fought here,
still you admonish me: go by!
All my desires and loves are ashes,
as if my finger touches my chest.

No soldier will ever defeat you,
though your flesh is vermiculous and infirm
and your freedom from God's rivet.

Believing when you see you, all the doors will close,
but to you when he comes home
a longing heretic and a proud ascetic.

QUARANTINE
Even when a teenager, full of hot humility,
attacks a high fortress on the horizon,
as he finally believes he's coming home -
a mocking voice shouts at him, "Wait a minute, son!"

He who arrogantly wanted to win the last edge,
shamelessly transporting an ambulance,
to a body where noble defiance and lust ferment,
smearing tired traces of sulfur ointment.

In a suffocating sauna with bars on the window,
protective gloves on hands, covered faces
burning in the steam while heating the heater,
with cloth of fine linen, black and bloody.

And when a guard loosens the bolt from the prison door,
the road is finally free, free to hike for long,
thirsty, drinking the crisp breath of the winds,
he turns his heart from the whine of quarantine.

SONG OF THE WITCHES
Throw into the pot the wrath of claws,
henbane, bile, dandruff,
blood and werewolf meat -
come, blaze enough!

A straight path
leads past the goal,
the best bread is that
which is not eaten whole.

All of the evil
let us boil the dark red butter
transparent like wax
appears our poisonous flower.

The great is little
the cold is hot
we were left
with the heart of things.

In our path are enchanted worlds
and thunder runs,
and following us with frightened eyes
watching are the suns.

WITCH
Heavily the wax flows over the copper chandelier,
dim shadows in the mirror, my white substitute.
Laying on the waste bag, heat dissipated from the body,
bluish fingers on the chest, lips shuttered.
Neighbours, relatives are on all the wall edges,
uncle is drunk again, aunt has swollen legs.
On the stairs, beggar children eat honey and berries,
Some hobo is dumbly standing in the shadow of the door.
A tear from his eyes sneaked into the grass weakly.
Stupid! probably one day we'll meet in hell.
But if there is no comfort here in your gloomy mood,
I will come to you in the form of a white cat.

THE VIEWER OF GHOSTS
The child can only scream in horror
if he is struck by the fingertip of the skeleton,
in those cases, however, I tried to instill
the assumption that I'm a ghost myself.

During the moonlight I got out of bed, sweat on my forehead,
and I lurked in doors, fences,
that running into hiding near ghosts,
I would be afraid to scare them.

I'm crazy though! In the shadow of darkness
from my heart, which got used to it imperceptibly
with lemurs, the fearful fear fell.

But in the light of day, I am now overwhelmed with fear.
I don't think I belong to a human family anymore:
A haunting from another world will remain in my blood.

IN THE JEWISH CITY DISTRICT
The ghetto is shaken by a whistling blast,
house from house as if to cry for help,
the synagogue flashes angrily
like a rabbi muttering a curse.
The air passes through like a whistling nut
an urgent shout from all the burrows.
In front of three candles, a Talmud is browsed by a Jew,
another repairs an umbrella.
Stacks of bones in the yard pile up in a row,
Heaps of rags are sent flying ...
Against a window among the dusty flowers
the dark girl thinks thoughtfully.
A rich man looks on in his coat and braids
as he, putting his finger to his lips,
observes a cut-off head on a platter,
which once belonged to someone named John.

Links and Trivia
The YouTube stream of the film Betti Alver - Ilmauks on irvakil is still posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFDxZ1u-pPA as of this writing April 1, 2021, although it will likely be deleted soon. It is in the Estonian language only without subtitles, there was a sound problem at the front end, which isn't corrected until about 6 minutes into the stream.

An English language biography of Betti Alver can be read at the Estonian Literature Centre.

Facsimile, text and download (epub format) format editions of "Tolm ja tuli" can be read online or downloaded at the Kreutzwaldi Sajand (Kreutzwald Centenary) site of the Estonian Literary Museum.

A download (pdf format) edition of "Tolm ja tuli" can be downloaded at the Estonian Literary Museum. ( )