2/27/2022: UkREIGN Forever

Sasha Wallace
Feb 27, 2022
2 min read

My creative writing professor once told my class "poems are for perilous times". Unfortunately, this last week has seen the advent of war upon a peaceful nation. In solidarity with the people of Ukraine, First Look Books is foregoing this week's picture book recommendation. Instead, we'd like to spotlight Ukraine's most beloved poet, Taras Shevchenko. Here is his most anthologized work, Zapovit (in English, "My Testament"):

When I am dead, bury me

In my beloved Ukraine,

My tomb upon a grave mound high

Amid the spreading plain,

So that the fields, the boundless steppes,

The Dnieper's plunging shore

My eyes could see, my ears could hear

The mighty river roar.

When from Ukraine the Dnieper bears

Into the deep blue sea

The blood of foes ... then will I leave

These hills and fertile fields —

I'll leave them all and fly away

To the abode of God,

And then I'll pray .... But till that day

I nothing know of God.

Oh bury me, then rise ye up

And break your heavy chains

And water with the tyrants' blood

The freedom you have gained.

And in the great new family,

The family of the free,

With softly spoken, kindly word

Remember also me.

Shevchenko spent most of his life in slavery or exile. Known as the Bard of Freedom, he was a tireless fighter for equality & independence, whether that meant supporting Jews against anti-semitism, advocating for fair treatment of women, or even condemning tyrannical governments for their censorship & baseless invasions (his writing about the Russian invasion of Georgia, in which his friend lost his life, is scathing). He defied a Tsar, turned down a Princess, survived harsh imprisonments without a trial, & infuriated an empire by refusing to call Ukraine "Little Russia", its usual political moniker. The use of the Ukrainian language is attributed largely to Shevchenko's writings, as is the end of eastern serfdom.

Shevchenko embodies the exact spirit the Ukrainian people are showcasing today: tireless, bold, brilliant & true. He may not be a fighter plane, but in his own way, Shevchenko is also a Ghost of Kyiv.