Kaniv. Tarasova gora.
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Taras Shevchenko
THE TESTAMENT
(“Iak umru, to pokhovaite”)
Translated by Ethel Lilian Voynich
Dig my grave and raise my barrow
By the Dnieper-side
In Ukraina, my own land,
A fair land and wide.
I will lie and watch the cornfields,
Listen through the years
To the river voices roaring,
Roaring in my ears.
When I hear the call
Of the racing flood,
Loud with hated blood,
I will leave them all,
Fields and hills; and force my way
Right up to the Throne
Where God sits alone;
Clasp His feet and pray...
But till that day
What is God to me?
Bury me, be done with me,
Rise and break your chain,
Water your new liberty
With blood for rain.
Then, in the mighty family
Of all men that are free,
May be sometimes, very softly
You will speak of me?
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Taras Shevchenko, "The Testament"
“Iak umru, to pokhovaite”
("Як умру, то поховайте")
1845, Pereiaslav (Переяслав)
Translated by Ethel Lilian Voynich
Source:
http://www.infoukes.com/
Original publication:
Taras Shevchenko. Zibrannia tvoriv u 6 tomakh, Кyiv: Naukova dumka, 2003, 1: p. 371.
More poems of Taras Shevchenko translated into English by Ethel Lilian Voynich:
Ethel Lilian Voynich, nee Boole (May 11, 1864–July 27, 1960) was an Irish writer and a supporter of several revolutionary causes. She was born to the mathematician, George Boole, and the feminist philosopher Mary Everest,who was the niece of George Everest. Ethel's husband was Wilfrid Michael Voynich, a Polish revolutionary, antiquarian, and bibliophile.
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Taras Shevchenko's poem