Great post! Thank you, Aleksander! To make the picture more full I'd like to add some details from Shevchenko biography (taken partly from Wiki).
After Shevchenko finally returned from exile after receiving amnesty from a new emperor, he was not permitted to return to St. Petersburg and was forced to stay in Nizhniy Novgorod.
Shevchenko was eventually allowed to return to St. Petersburg. In the winter of 1858, he saw African-American Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge perform with his troupe. Using translators, the two became good friends over discussions of art and music and their shared experiences of oppression. Shevchenko drew Aldridge's portrait.
In May 1859, Shevchenko got permission to return to Ukraine. He intended to buy a plot of land close to the village of Pekari. In July, he was again arrested on a charge of blasphemy but then released and ordered to return to St. Petersburg.
Taras Shevchenko spent the last years of his life working on new poetry, paintings, and engravings, as well as editing his older works. After difficult years in exile, however, his illnesses took their toll upon him. Shevchenko died in Saint Petersburg on March 10, 1861, the day after his 47th birthday.
He was first buried at the Smolensk Cemetery in Saint Petersburg. However, fulfilling Shevchenko's wish, expressed in his poem "Testament" ("Zapovit"), you're mentioned in your post along with the translation, to be buried in Ukraine, his friends arranged the transfer of his remains by train to Moscow and then by horse-drawn wagon to his homeland. Shevchenko was re-buried on 8 May on the Chernecha hora (Monk's Hill; today Taras Hill) near the Dnipro River and Kaniv. A tall mound was erected over his grave, now a memorial part of the Kaniv Museum-Preserve.
Dogged by terrible misfortune in love and life, the poet died seven days before the 1861 emancipation of serfs was announced. Ukrainians worldwide revere his works and life, and his impact on Ukrainian literature is immense.
I recall the 8th of March as the date of Shevchenko's re-bury in Ukraine. Every year, in 70-th-80-th, we, students of the Kyiv University named after Shevchenko (a paradox!), were prohibited or later weren't recommended from joining the meeting near the Shevchenko monument. Still, some of us joined, risking being excluded from the university.
Thanks for sharing this in the original Ukrainian. I had read it before in the Russian translation. Seems like “with good intent / Speak quietly of me” doesn’t quite convey the full content of “пом'янути / Незлим тихим словом”, what do you think? “Незлим словом” or “незлым словом”, something like “remember me with fondness”. Makes me think of the Last Supper.
For sure, things are always different in originals. Like when I read Dostoevsky in Russian and then English, huge difference, the atmosphere he creates in Russian doesn’t transfer. Same with the Ukrainian writers, there is often a hint of suffering and struggle that they create within the writing and the language.
What a wonderful chance to read a translation to allow us to hear the poet’s words, feelings and thoughts. Was this the poem entitled “Dream” that got him in trouble with the Czar? Thank you for sharing this and his history.
Incredibly powerful- thank you for sharing. I can imagine the wrath it inspired- a brave man and poet…so saddened by all his suffering for standing up for what he loved.
Amazing strong poetry like all Ukrainian people!
There is beauty in each of our souls which no national boundaries can contain.
For sure!
Love that! Ukrainian culture is so rich… we all can benefit from learning more
Great post! Thank you, Aleksander! To make the picture more full I'd like to add some details from Shevchenko biography (taken partly from Wiki).
After Shevchenko finally returned from exile after receiving amnesty from a new emperor, he was not permitted to return to St. Petersburg and was forced to stay in Nizhniy Novgorod.
Shevchenko was eventually allowed to return to St. Petersburg. In the winter of 1858, he saw African-American Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge perform with his troupe. Using translators, the two became good friends over discussions of art and music and their shared experiences of oppression. Shevchenko drew Aldridge's portrait.
In May 1859, Shevchenko got permission to return to Ukraine. He intended to buy a plot of land close to the village of Pekari. In July, he was again arrested on a charge of blasphemy but then released and ordered to return to St. Petersburg.
Taras Shevchenko spent the last years of his life working on new poetry, paintings, and engravings, as well as editing his older works. After difficult years in exile, however, his illnesses took their toll upon him. Shevchenko died in Saint Petersburg on March 10, 1861, the day after his 47th birthday.
He was first buried at the Smolensk Cemetery in Saint Petersburg. However, fulfilling Shevchenko's wish, expressed in his poem "Testament" ("Zapovit"), you're mentioned in your post along with the translation, to be buried in Ukraine, his friends arranged the transfer of his remains by train to Moscow and then by horse-drawn wagon to his homeland. Shevchenko was re-buried on 8 May on the Chernecha hora (Monk's Hill; today Taras Hill) near the Dnipro River and Kaniv. A tall mound was erected over his grave, now a memorial part of the Kaniv Museum-Preserve.
Dogged by terrible misfortune in love and life, the poet died seven days before the 1861 emancipation of serfs was announced. Ukrainians worldwide revere his works and life, and his impact on Ukrainian literature is immense.
I recall the 8th of March as the date of Shevchenko's re-bury in Ukraine. Every year, in 70-th-80-th, we, students of the Kyiv University named after Shevchenko (a paradox!), were prohibited or later weren't recommended from joining the meeting near the Shevchenko monument. Still, some of us joined, risking being excluded from the university.
Really amazing, I love that detail about the university and the meetings, thank you!
Thanks for sharing this in the original Ukrainian. I had read it before in the Russian translation. Seems like “with good intent / Speak quietly of me” doesn’t quite convey the full content of “пом'янути / Незлим тихим словом”, what do you think? “Незлим словом” or “незлым словом”, something like “remember me with fondness”. Makes me think of the Last Supper.
For sure, things are always different in originals. Like when I read Dostoevsky in Russian and then English, huge difference, the atmosphere he creates in Russian doesn’t transfer. Same with the Ukrainian writers, there is often a hint of suffering and struggle that they create within the writing and the language.
What a wonderful chance to read a translation to allow us to hear the poet’s words, feelings and thoughts. Was this the poem entitled “Dream” that got him in trouble with the Czar? Thank you for sharing this and his history.
Here is the poem https://taras-shevchenko.storinka.org/the-dream-a-comedy-poem-of-taras-shevchenko-ukrainian-to-english-translation-by-vera-rich.html
Incredibly powerful- thank you for sharing. I can imagine the wrath it inspired- a brave man and poet…so saddened by all his suffering for standing up for what he loved.
It’s a pretty incredible story!
Beautiful 🤍🤍🤍
Thank you!
This is great, thank you 🙏🏾.
I really love the last 3 lines of that poem.
Awesone! In original it’s so good