Three Poems
In the Casemate
A cherry orchard by the house
("Sadok vyshnevyi kolo khaty")
A cherry orchard by the house.
Above the cherries beetles hum.
The plowmen plow the fertile ground
And girls sing songs as they pass by.
It’s evening—mother calls them home.
A family sups by the house.
A star shines in the evening chill.
A daughter serves the evening meal.
Time to give lessons—mother tries,
But can’t. She blames the nightingale.
It’s getting dark, and by the house,
A mother lays her young to sleep;
Beside them she too fell asleep.
All now went still, and just the girls
And nightingale their vigil keep.
Taras Shevchenko
"Sadok vyshnevyi kolo khaty"
("Садок вишневий коло хати")
1847, Sankt-Peterburg (Санкт-Петербург)
Translated by Boris Dralyuk and Roman Koropeckyj
Original publication:
Taras Shevchenko, “V kazemati. VII. Sadok vyshnevyi kolo khaty,” Zibrannia tvoriv u 6 tomakh, Кyiv: Naukova dumka, 2003, 2: 17–18.
Source:
"Ukrainian Literature. A Journal of Translations" Volume 4.2004"
Shevchenko Scientific Society, New York, USA
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