Dig my grave and raise my barrow
By the Dnieper-side
In Ukraine, my own land,
A fair land and wide.
I will lie and watch the cornfields,
Listen through the years
To the river voices roaring,
Roaring in my ears.

When I hear the call
Of the racing flood,
Loud with hated blood,
I will leave them all,
Fields and hills; and force my way
Right up to the Throne
Where God sits alone;
Clasp His feet and pray…
But till that day
What is God to me?

Bury me, be done with me,
Rise and break your chain,
Water your new liberty
With blood for rain.
Then, in the mighty family
Of all men that are free,
May be sometimes, very softly
You will speak of me?

Taras Shevchenko
Translated by E. L. Voynich
London, 1911

From “The Testament,” by Taras Shevchenko

Taras Shevchenko is one of the greatest Ukrainian poets who wrote in his native language. The poem portrays the painful reality of nowadays as if time stood still for almost two centuries:

Bury me, be done with me,
Rise and break your chain,
Water your new liberty
With blood for rain.
Then, in the mighty family
Of all men that are free,
May be sometimes, very softly
You will speak of me?

I dedicate this post to the valiant Ukrainians who face death to defend their country from foreign invaders.