Taras Shevchenko's poem "The legacy". Ukrainian-to-English translation by С.H. Andrusyshen and Watson Kirkconnell

Taras Shevchenko

MY LEGACY
 
When I shall die, pray let my bones
High on a mound remain
Amid the steppeland’s vast expanse
In my belov'd Ukraine;
That I may gaze on mighty fields,
On Dnieper and his shore,
And echoed by his craggy banks
May hear the Great One roar!

When from Ukraine that stream will bear
Over the sea's blue sills
Our foemen's blood, at last shall I
Forsake the fields and hills
And soar up to commune with God
In His eternal hall.
But till that day of Liberty —
I know no God at all! *1)

Bury me thus—and then arise!
From fetters set you free!
And with your foes' unholy blood
Baptize your liberty!
And when in freedom, 'mid your kin,
From battle you ungird,
Forget not to remember me
With a warm, gentle word!

*1) Not to be taken as a sacrilegious utterance. When Shevchenko spoke of God, he often meant Truth, Justice.

Poem of Taras Shevchenko
"Zapovit"
("Заповіт")
1845, Pereyaslav, (Переяслав)

Translated by С.H. Andrusyshen and Watson Kirkconnell

Original publication: Taras Shevchenko. Zibrannia tvoriv: U 6 t. — K., 2003. — T. 1: Poeziia 1837-1847. — S. 371; S. 750-752.

Source: The Poetical Works of Taras Shevchenko. The Kobzar. Translated from the Ukrainian by С.H. Andrusyshen and Watson Kirkconnell. Published for the Ukrainian Canadian Committee by University of Toronto Press, 1964. Toronto and Buffalo. Printed in Canada, Reprinted 1977, p. 271 - 272.

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