Hryhory Skovoroda (1722-1794) is considered by many to be the first great Slavic philosopher. Written over a period stretching from the 1750s until 1785, “The Garden of Divine Songs” is a unique collection of 30 poems featuring a complex system of strophic structures, with only a few of the songs written in a traditional way. According to writer and scholar Valery Shevchuk, it functions as a “practical guide to the art of poetry,’” exemplifying all the meters and strophic patterns that were possible in Ukrainian poetry at that time.
As demonstrated in “The Garden of Divine Songs and Collected Poetry of Hryhory Skovoroda,” Skorovoda’s originality and his ability to approach the most cardinal problems of human existence stem from his capacity to combine known motifs, borrowed from literary sources such as classical texts, the Bible and ancient Ukrainian poetic works, with his own system of thinking that focuses on his philosophy of the heart.
The translator of this collection of poetry by Skovoroda, Michael M. Naydan, is a Woskob Family Professor of Slavic Languages and Literature at Pennsylvania State University.