HEROIC WOMAN OF POETRY

 March was WOMEN’S HISTORY month which studies of the role that women have played in history. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, personal achievement over a period of time, the examination of individual and groups of women of historical significance, and the effect that historical events have had on women.

Inherent in the study of women's history is the belief that more traditional recordings of history have minimized or ignored the contributions of women to different fields and the effect that historical events had on women as a whole; in this respect, women's history is often a form of historical revisionism, seeking to challenge or expand the traditional historical consensus.

Even though we have started a new month, and since our focus these past weeks has been on the UKRAINE, I thought it appropriate to examine the lives of some of this country’s modern women authors and the effect they have had on their country.

The first writer is LESYA UKRAINKA, born in 1871, she was the daughter of a mother who wrote poetry and short stories for children. She was also active in the in the women's movement and published a feminist almanac. While her mother played an active role in bringing up the children, they were educated by Ukrainian tutors at home, to avoid schools that taught Russian as the primary language. Lesya’s  father was of noble lineage and active in politics.

 At the age of eight,  Lesya wrote her first poem, "Hope," which was composed in reaction to the arrest and exile of her aunt, Olena Kosach, for taking part in a political movement against the tsarist autocracy.

Her uncle, Mykhaylo Drahomanov, encouraged her to study Ukrainian folk songs, folk stories, and history, and  to peruse the Bible for its inspired poetry and eternal themes. She also was influenced by  other well-known composers and poets.

 At the age of 13, her mother suggested that she use a pseudonym, because, in the Russian Empire, publications in the Ukrainian language were forbidden. Lesya's first collection of poetry had to be published secretly in western Ukraine and stole into Kyiv under her pseudonym. At this time, she was also studying to  become a pianist, but but due to tuberculosis of the bone, she did not attend any outside educational establishment. Writing was to be the main focus of her life.

Her poems and plays are associated with her belief in her country's freedom and independence. Lesya's illness made it necessary for her to travel to places where the climate was dry, thus, she spent extended periods of time in Germany,Austria, Italy, Bulgaria, Crimea, the Caucasus, and Egypt. She loved experiencing other cultures, which was evident in many of her literary works.

Lesya actively opposed Russian tsarism and was a member of Ukrainian Marxist organizations. In 1902 she translated the Communist Manifesto into Ukrainian. She was briefly arrested in 1907 by tsarist police and remained under surveillance..

In 1907,  she married Klyment Kvitka, a court official, who was an amateur ethnographer and musicologist. They settled first in Crimea, then moved to Georgia.

Lesya died in August 1913 at a health resort in Surami, Georgia. Lesya is known primarily as a poet of courage and struggle and  characterizes the ancient understanding of valor and the strength of the woman warrior, which we certainly see in the Ukrainian women in today’s war with Russia.

(Painting on right- Nataliya Bagatskaya)

Contra Spem Spero! (I Hope Against Hope)

Away, dark thoughts, you autumn clouds!
A golden spring is here!
Shall it be thus in sorrow and in lamentation
That my youthful years pass away?

No, through all my tears I still shall laugh,
Sing songs despite my troubles;
Have hope despite all odds,
I want to live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts!

On this poor, indigent ground
I shall sow flowers of flowing colors;
I shall sow flowers even amidst the frost,
And water them with my bitter tears.

And from those burning tears will melt
The frozen crust, so hard and strong,
Perhaps the flowers will bloom and
Bring about for me a joyous spring.

Unto a winding, flinty mountain
Shall I bear my weighty stone,
Yet, even bearing such a crushing weight,
Will I sing a joyful song.

Throughout a lasting night of darkness
Ne’er shall I rest my own eyes,
Always searching for the guiding star,
The bright empress of the dark night skies.

I shall not allow my heart to fall sleep,
Though gloom and misery envelop me,
Despite my certain feelings
That death is beating at my breast.

Death will settle heavily on that breast,
The snow covered by a cruel haze,
But fierce shall beat my little heart,
And maybe, with its ferocity, overcome death.

Yes, I will laugh despite my tears,
I’ll sing out songs amidst my misfortunes;
I’ll have hope despite all odds,
I will live! Away, you sorrowful thoughts!