Taras Shevchenko and the present
There is an opinion that there is no prophet in its state. But Ukraine can claim the exact opposite, because we have a prophet who managed to encompass its centuries-old history with his gaze, determine the main human values, build a bridge to the future, passing on thoughts to descendants.
Taras Shevchenko believed that the most important thing for the people is the idea of national unity, because only in unity can we untie ourselves, defend ourselves, and win in any trials. And the main goal of the fighters for freedom is the Ukrainian United State. The poet sought to convey this idea to every countryman with his «Kobzar», in particular the «Message…»:
In his own house there is truth,
Both strength and will.
Accordingly, a person can exist only within the borders of a nation, therefore he advocated the creation of national states.
Wherever our poet had to be, Ukraine was always the most precious thing to him, for the sake of it he was ready to make any sacrifices:
I love her so much, I love her so much
My poor Ukraine,
That I curse the holy God,
I will destroy my soul for her!
The poet even bequeaths to bury him on the grave, «among the wide steppe, in the dear Ukraine», so that even after death he would not lose the spiritual connection with his native land, “so that the wide meadows, and the Dnieper, and the steeps could be seen, one could hear how the roaring roaring».
According to Shevchenko, a person can exist as a person only in the environment of his nation. For Shevchenko, a nation is not only the people of a certain territory, but the common soul of the people and the land on which they live, common to past and future generations, and its genetic code is language.
The poet considered the greatest tragedy of Ukrainians not only economic oppression, but also the fact that they live «on our land, not theirs,» the cause of which is primarily the aggressive policy of Muscovy, as well as the Ukrainians themselves, in particular a part of the Cossack elite, which has become «the filth of Moscow, the garbage of Warsaw.» His contemporaries, the «brotherhood,» who «keep silent to themselves, staring! Like lambs!» are also guilty. «Let it be,» he says. «Maybe it’s the way it should be.» This, unfortunately, echoes the subsequent tragedy of Ukraine, when subsequent generations and their leaders did not seize the chance to create, and most importantly, maintain, the Ukrainian people’s state at the beginning of the 20th century. The poet especially suffers from frequent manifestations of Little Russianism, the inferiority of Ukrainians, because this leads to the final destruction of the nation. For Shevchenko, fellow countrymen who have become «nannies, uncles of a foreign fatherland» are not just «stinking dung», but a great pain, a tragedy, because they not only sold out «for a piece of rotten sausage», but also
They are slaughtered in the Moscow way,
They laugh and scold
Their parents, who from childhood
Did not teach to tinkle.
This also reminds us of modern Ukraine, of many rulers who led to a bloody tragedy caused by the same Moscow. Fortunately, the modern Russian-Ukrainian war, albeit at the cost of many victims, has prompted Ukrainians to rethink their values, their identity, to show concern, civic activity, including in their attitude to the language. According to sociologists, over the past five years the number of those who have recognized themselves as Ukrainians and consider the Ukrainian language their native language has increased.
In the poet’s system of values, fighters for the will of the people and the independence of the state are in the first place; they are «great knights, not forgotten by God,» the only «Cossacks among a million swineherds.» In the poem «Haydamaki,» Shevchenko sincerely admires the holy feat of his ancestors, the true Cossacks who rose up for Ukraine and died for it, once again confirming that we are not obedient lambs, «blind slaves,» but people who rose to defend the state. The poet glorifies the Haidamakis, emphasizes what their feat and holiness are. The poem «Caucasus» is a hymn to the invincibility of the people defending their state, which affirms the invincibility of that state where «our soul does not die, our will does not die.» Shevchenko’s prophetic words addressed to the defenders of the state and its national values remain relevant: Fight – you will win, God will help you! For you, truth, glory, and holy will.
