I care not if it's in Ukraine
("Meni odnakovo, chy budu")
I care not if it's in Ukraine
Or far from her I live and die;
I care not if ’neath alien sky
Remembered or forgotten by
Her and her people I remain.
In slavery, midst alien folk
Grow up I did, and ’neath the yoke
Of slavery I’ll die unmourned,
Far from the land that is our own
And yet is not - I’ll leave forever
Our sweet Ukraine, and no trace there
Of me, an exile, will be left.
And father will not say to son:
“In prayer our voices let us lift
For one who suffered martyrdom
For our Ukraine...” I care not if
They ever pray for me or not,
To me this matters little. But
If Evil lulls my hapless land
To sleep by ruse and cunning, and
She wakes in flames and robbed,
if such,
As fear 1 greatly, is her lot -
To me this matters... very much.
Taras Shevchenko
"Meni odnakovo, chy budu"
("Мені однаково, чи буду")
1847, S.- Peterburg (С.- Петербург)
Translated by Irina Zheleznova
Original publication:
Taras Shevchenko. Zibrannja tvoriv: U 6 t. — K., 2003. — T. 2: Poezija 1847-1861. — S. 11-20; 549-570
Source: Taras Shevchenko. Selected poetry. Kiev, Dnipro, 1977, p.203