Taras Shevchenko's poem "N.N." ("The sun sets, and dark the mountains become"). Translated from Ukrainian by Vera Rich

Taras Shevchenko

N.N.

("Sontse zakhodyt, hory chorniiut" / "Сонце заходить, гори чорніють")

The sun sets, and dark the mountains become,
The little bird hushes, the plain has grown dumb,
The people rejoice that slumber is nearing,
And I look : and I fly with my heart in my dreaming 
To a dark orchard in far Ukraina;
I fly there, I fly there, pondering deeply,
And it seems that my heart is at rest, has grown tranquil. 
Dark shadows spread over plain, mountain and grove,
A star twinkles out in the blue, high above: 
Star, O Star! —and the bitter tears rain —
And hast thou, then, risen too, over Ukraine?
Do the dark eyes search for thee yet 
In the blue heavens? Or did they forget?
May they slumber forever if they have forgotten,
Never to hear of my pitiful fortune.

Taras Shevchenko' s poem
"N.N." / "Sontse zakhodyt, hory chorniiut"
("N.N." / "Сонце заходить, гори чорніють")
1847, Fortress of Orsk (Орська фортеця)

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. 35; 573. 

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. 89.

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