In a rural village in the early 1900s, two young men in love, Toivo and Aarne, spend their summers swimming in lakes and reading poetry. But the approaching autumn means Aarne's departure days away for university and the desire of Toivo's father to send his own son to a distant village as a ring, jeopardising the lovers' plans for a reunion.

Bipolar Hilla cannot help but fall in love when she meets bohemian and free-spirited Jemina.