THE ROARING DNIEPER

By Taras Shevchenko

Roaring, the groaning Dnieper stretches,

The whining wind with anger raves

And lofty willows that it catches

Bow to the mounting rolling waves.

 

The pallid moon with mystic motion

Was peeking from behind its shrouds

And like a skiff out on the ocean

Came up and sank behind the clouds.

 

The morning heralds were yet resting

And quiet everywhere did reign;

But in the grove the owls were calling

While ash trees creaked and creaked again.

One of the most popular songs among Ukrainians, a song whose origin, it is safe to say, the majority of people do not know is the introduction to "Prychynna" (Bewitched). This song in reality is an introduction to Shevchenko's "Kobzar" in that it is a part of the first of his poetic works, and what is more interesting, it is part of the only poem printed before the poet's liberation from serfdom which occurred on April 22, 1838 (Julian Calendar), when Shevchenko was 24 years old.

Although physically Shevchenko was not a free man at the time, the freedom and breadth in his words make him from the very beginning of his writing career the lord of his masters. In his description of nature he was nature itself and as such he was taken to heart by the Ukrainians who, being toilers of the soil, are the children of nature and therefore it seems natural that we call Shevchenko the Father of Ukraine.

Waldimir Semenyna.

Copyright © Svoboda, October 6, 1933, No. 1, Vol. I

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