Käsu Hans (birth date unknown, died probably in 1715 or 1734) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n poet. He is the first known native Estonian writer. He is mostly known by his poem "Oh! ma vaene Tardo-liin" ('Ah Me! Poor Tartu Town!'). Little is known about its life. He was a clergyman in

Puhja Puhja is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Tartu County, in Elva Parish Estonia. It was the administrative centre of Puhja Parish. Puhja has a population of 859 (as of 1 January 2021). Puhja church, originally dedicated to St. Dionysius, dates ...

. His most famous lamentable poem "Oh! ma vaene Tardo-liin" was written in 1708 and its content is related to Tartu in the time of the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...

, when Tartu was almost completely destroyed. The poem has thirty-two stanzas. The poems is written in

South Estonian South Estonian, spoken in south-eastern Estonia, encompasses the Tartu, Mulgi, Võro and Seto varieties. There is no academic consensus on its status, as some linguists consider South Estonian a dialect group of Estonian whereas other linguist ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasu Hans Estonian male poets Year of birth unknown 18th-century deaths Year of death uncertain