Even till now I have this dream: among the willows
“I dosi snyt'sia: pid horoiu”
Even till now I have this dream: among the willows
And above the water near a mountain
There is a tiny white bungalow. A grayed grandfather
Sits near the bungalow and watches
His tiny grandson, so nice
And curly-haired.
Even till now I have this dream: a happy
Smiling mother steps out of the house
And kisses grandfather and the child,
She joyfully kisses him three times,
Takes him into her arms and nurses him,
And carries him to bed. And grandfather
Sits there and smiles, and quietly
Whispers: “Where is that misery?
That sadness? Those foes?”
And in a whisper the old man,
Crossing himself, recites the Our Father.
Through the willow tree the sun shines
And quietly dies out. The day is done,
And all has gone to sleep. The grayed old man
Has gone himself to the house to rest.
Taras Shevchenko's poem
“I dosi snyt'sia: pid horoiu”
("І досі сниться: під горою")
1850, Orenburg (Оренбург)
Translated by Michael M. Naydan
Original publication:
Taras Shevchenko, Tvory v 6 t. [Works in 6 v.], Kyiv: Naukova dumka, 1968
Source:
"Ukrainian Literature. A Journal of Translations" Volume 1.2004"
Shevchenko Scientific Society, New York, USA
http://www.shevchenko.org/Ukr_Lit/Vol01/01-04.html