Taras Shevchenko's poem "A little cloud swims to the sun". Ukrainian-to-English translation by Vera Rich

Taras Shevchenko

A LITTLE CLOUD SWIMS TO THE SUN

("Za sontsem khmaronka plyve" / "За сонцем хмаронька пливе")

A little cloud swims to the sun,
With all her crimson borders trailing,
And beckons to the sun to sleep 
And covers it with rosy veiling,
Cradled in the dark blue sea,
As a mother lulls her child...
Lovely to the eyes... And now,
It seems, the heart is still,
For one little hour of rest,
With God speaks quietly...
Like an enemy, the mist 
Falls upon the sea 
And the little rosy cloud,
Darkness in its wake 
The grey mist rolls and billows out,
And the silent dark
Throws its shroud upon the soul,
And you don’t know where to wander,
Longing, longing for the light,
Like small children for their mother.

Taras Shevchenko's poem
"Za sontsem khmaronka plyve"
("За сонцем хмаронька пливе")
1849, Kos-Aral, (Косарал)

Translated by Vera Rich

Source of the original poem in Ukrainian: Taras Shevchenko. Zibrannja tvoriv: U 6 t. — Kyjiv, "Naukova dumka", 2003. Том 2: Поезія 1847 - 1861, stor. 116; 618 - 619. 

Source of English translation of the poem: Taras Shevchenko."Song out of Darkness". Selected poems translated from the Ukrainian by Vera Rich. London, 1961, p. 95.

Here you can find Ukrainian text of the Taras Shevchenko's poem:
Original poem in Ukrainian