Text 4. Lesya Ukrainka a Rebellions Poetes

Lesya Ukrainka is the literary name of Larysa Kosach-Kvitka. She was born in Novograd-Volynskiy to Olga Drahomanova-Kosach (literary name: Olena Pchilka), a writer and publisher in Eastern Ukraine, and Petro Kosach, a senior civil servant. Kosach, an intelligent, well-educated man with non-Ukrainian roots was devoted to the advancement of Ukrainian culture and financially support­ed Ukrainian publishing ventures. Mykhaylo Drahomanov, Larysa’s maternal uncle, was a noted Ukrainian publicist, his­torian and scholar. He encouraged her to collect folk songs and folkloric materials, to study history and to peruse the Bible as a source of creative inspiration and eternal themes. Larysa was also influenced by her family’s friendship with Ukraine»s leading cultural figures, such as Mykola Lysenko, a renowned Ukrainian composer and Mykhaylo Starytsky, a popular dramatist and poet.

In the Kosach family the mother played the dominant role; at her request, only the Ukrainian language was spoken and, to avoid the schools, in which Russian was the language of instruction, the children had tutors with whom they studied Ukrainian history, literature and culture. Emphasis was also placed on learning foreign languages and reading world literature in the original. In addition to her native Ukrainian, Larysa spoke Russian, Polish, Bulgarian, Greek, Latin, French, Italian, German and English.

Unfortunately, the life of this talented woman was rather tragic: at the age of twelve she developed bone tuberculosis, a painful and debilitating disease that she had to fight all her life. Even being physically disabled, Lesya was a woman of rebellious spirit and incredible will power. A precocious child, privileged to live in a highly cultural family, Lesya began writ­ing poetry at the age of nine. When she turned thirteen she saw her first poem published in a journal in L’viv under the name of Lesya Ukrainka, a literary pseudonym suggested by her mother. As a young girl Larysa also showed signs of being a gifted pianist, but her musical studies came to an abrupt end due to her physical disease.

Lesya published her first collection of lyrical poetry «On the Wings of Songs» in 1893. Her verses were filled with infinite tenderness and incredible willpower. The poetess deeply sympathised with human sufferings, yet she urged her readers not to submit to the sorrows of life, but to keep fighting for their happiness. In her poem «Contra spem spero!» (Hoping without Hope) the poetess wrote:

«Yes! Through my tears I would burst out laughing, Sing a song when a grief is my lot. Ever I, against hope, keep on hoping -I will live! Away, gloomy thought!»

Lesya was troubled because her physical disablement prevented her from engaging in the struggle against national and social oppression in Ukraine along with other representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia. Her poetry was her weapon:

««Why, my words, aren’t you cold steel, tempered metal, Striking off sparks in the thick of the battle? Why not a sword so relentless and keen That all our foes’ heads would be cut off clean?»

When Lesya was a teenager, she often had to go abroad for surgery and therapeutic treatment and was advised to live in countries with a dry climate. Residing for extended periods of time in Germany, Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Crimea, the Caucasus and Egypt, she studied other peoples’ traditions and cul­ture, and incorporated her observations and impressions into her writings. She turned to new themes and problems, relevant not only to Ukraine but to entire mankind.

In her poems «The Babylonian Captivity», «In the Catacombs», «On the Field of Blood», «Vila Sister», «In the Wilderness» the poetess pictured Ancient Greece and Rome, Palestine, Egypt, revo­lutionary France and medieval Germany.

In addition to her lyrical poetry, Lesya Ukrainka wrote poetic drama. A struggler for peace and justice is the main hero of her poems. Erudition, intelligence and knowledge of history and geography helped her trace this image through different epochs and peoples.

The best and most famous work of Lesya Ukrainka is her fairy tale «The Forest Song» where she uses mythologi­cal characters from Volyn folklore. The poetess wrote this drama the year before her death. The main hero of this tale is a woman struggling for her inde­pendence and happiness. Ukrainka depicts the conflict between the high ideal, creative mission and gloomy reali­ty. The Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theatre has staged plays based on Ukrainka’s poetry for many years with great success.

Lesya Ukrainka was a well-educated person. She possessed a deep knowledge of world history and literature and devoted her book «The Ancient History of Eastern Peoples’ to her younger sisters. Also, Lesya was a talented translator. She translated the famous works of Homer, Dante, H. Heine, V. Hugo, W. Shakespeare, Lord Byron and A. Mickiewicz.

Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko, a contemporary of Lesya Ukrainka wrote about her that she was Ukraine’s best poetess since the time of Shevchenko. He called this physically weak woman «the only real man» in the then Ukraine.

Lesya Ukrainka lived at the turn of the 20^th century when nobody heard of feminism. She never took part in politi­cal rallies or required equal rights with men. She wrote poetry and, thus, managed to prove that woman can con­tribute to the development of her nation and the world’s culture.

Many poems by Lesya Ukrainka have been translated into English, German, French, Spanish and Polish languages. There is a boulevard in central Kyiv named after Lesya Ukrainka. At Kyiv’s square by the same name, one can see a beautiful monument to this notable poet­ess and woman. Monuments to Lesya Ukrainka can also be found in other countries where there is a Ukrainian Diaspora, for example, in Saskatoon and Toronto (Canada) and in Cleveland (USA).

But, perhaps, the best monument to Lesya Ukrainka is her immortal poetry.

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