A Spring Evening

A Spring Evening (Ukrainian: Весенній вечір) or May Evening (Ukrainian: Майський вечір) , also known as Beside the house, the cherry's flowering...[1] (Ukrainian: Садок вишневий коло хати...) is a poem by Taras Shevchenko, written in 1847 during his imprisonment by the Third Department in Saint Petersburg.

Publication

Included into the author's cycle In Casemate (Ukrainian: В казематі), the poem was first published in 1859, soon after its author's return from exile, and saw the light both in the original and in a Russian translation. In 1867 the poem's text was included into collections of Shevchenko's poetry published in Saint Petersburg and Lviv.[2]

Composition

Presenting an idyllic picture of Ukrainian village life, the poem is a characteristic example of Shevchenko's masterful use of recurrent words in order to achieve euphony.[3]

Text

Ukrainian original[4] English translation by Honore Ewach[5]

Садок вишневий коло хати,
Хрущі над вишнями гудуть.
Плугатарі з плугами йдуть,
Співають, ідучи, дівчата,
А матері вечерять ждуть.

Сем’я вечеря коло хати,
Вечірня зіронька встає.
Дочка вечерять подає,
А мати хоче научати,
Так соловейко не дає.

Поклала мати коло хати
Маленьких діточок своїх,
Сама заснула коло їх.
Затихло все, тілько дівчата
Та соловейко не затих.

Close by the house the cherries flower,
Above the orchard the beetles hum,
Still singing, the girls homeward come,
The tired plowmen’s steps grow slower,
And mothers with supper wait at home.

Close by the house they eat their supper;
Just then the evening-star appears;
As daughter serves. Her mother cares
To teach to do things in ways proper.
The nightingale’s song interferes.

Close to the wall on the clay-benches
The mother lulls her Nell and Bill,
And falls asleep against her will.
All fall asleep... But the sweet wenches
And nightingales are singing still.

References

  1. ^ Taras Shevchenko (1961). Song out of Darkness. Translated by Vera Rich. The Mitre Press. p. 88.
  2. ^ Тарас Шевченко. Зібрання творів: У 6 т. Vol. 2. 2003. pp. 549–570.
  3. ^ Чижевський Д. (1956). Історія української літератури (від початків до доби реалізму). p. 430.
  4. ^ Тарас Шевченко. Зібрання творів: У 6 т. Vol. 2. 2003. pp. 11–20.
  5. ^ "In Prison: VIII A Spring Evening". Retrieved 2026-02-12.

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