"Evening" ("In the Fortress"), poem of Taras Shevchenko. Translated from Ukrainian by Vera Rich

Taras Shevchenko

IN THE FORTRESS

EVENING

(Tsykl "V kazemati": "Sadok vyshnevyi kolo khaty" /
цикл "В казематі": "Вечір" / "Садок вишневий коло хати")

VIII

Beside the house, the cherry’s flowering,
Above the trees the May bugs hum,
The ploughmen from the furrows come,
The girls all wander homeward, singing,
And mothers wait the meal for them.

Beside the house, a family supper,
Above, the evening star appears,
The daughter serves the dishes here;
It’s useless to advise her, mother, 
The nightingale won’t let her hear.

Beside the house, the mother lulls 
The little children for the night,
Then she, too, settles at their side.
And all is still... Only the girls 
And nightingales disturb the quiet.

Poem of Taras Shevchenko
Tsykl "V kazemati": "Evening" / "Sadok vyshnevyi kolo khaty"
(Цикл "В казематі": "Вечір" / "Садок вишневий коло хати")
1847, St. Petersburg, In the Fortress. 
(С. - Петербург)

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. 11 - 20; stor. 549 - 570. 

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. 88.

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