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OUR LIFE M onthly, p u b lish e d by U krainian N a tional W om en’s League o f Am erica MARCH 1998 Editor: TAMARA STADNYCHENKO FRENCH EIGHTH GRADERS STUDY POETRY OF TARAS SHEVCHENKO by HELENE TURKEWICZ-SANKO In an effort to familiarize French students with European literatures, newly published French readers of the 1990s promote the works of authors not well known to the general European public. In 1991, the Magnard publishing house released a paperback destined to be a poetry reader for eighth graders. Among the many poems included in the reader, we find 'The Three Pathways" by Taras Shevchenko (Tarass Chevtchenko) and the following information about the author: T. Chevtchenko is the greatest Ukrainian poet. Recognized by his countrymen, he has been glorified by the whole nation of Ukraine. However, he had to face accusations of subversion and he was arrested and sentenced to prison and was forbidden to write. This did not stop him from composing and he continued to write secretly. He died of exhaustion in 1861. Of course the information about Taras Shevchenko is very incomplete. The French dictionary Le Petit Larousse which French students consult for additional information states: Chevtchenko, Tarass Grigorievitch. Ukrainian poet (Morintsy, today Zvenigorod, 1814 - St. Petersburg, 1861) promoter of democratic ideas in his own country and founder of Ukrainian national literature. Interestingly enough, there is another entry under Chevtchenko which reads as follows: Chevtchenko. Port in Kazakhstan on the Caspian Sea; 11,000 inhabitants. Nuclear site. The port is named after Shevchenko with good reason, for Shevchenko was exiled in Kazakhstan and lived among the Kazakh people on the border of the Caspian Sea. From that period of his life, not only do we have poetry, but also a series of "sepias" or illustrations of the life of the Kazakhs, because Taras Shevchenko was not only a poet, playwright and writer, but also an artist. 'The Three Pathways" (Oh! Le Trois Chemins) is not from the Kobzar, but from the collection V Kazemati (prison) dating to 1847, and his stay in the fortress of Orsk during his exile by the Caspian Sea. It is the sixth poem in a series of twelve, and is composed of 32 lines, the first line serving as its title. The poem was translated into French by the French poet Eugene Guillevic from the province of Brittany. The poem was first published Poetes d'aujourd'hui (Today's Poets) by the Seghers Publishing House in 1964. Among the themes which inspire poetry one finds love, faith, friendship, nature, suffering, war and death. In "The Three Pathways", one finds a very unique theme, a theme very particular to Ukrainian literature, yet one which has universal value and echoes the experiences of all people. It is the theme of "parting". The editor of the French cultural reader selected well, because throughout their history, Ukrainians have faced parting -- whether to go to war, to prison or forced labor camps, or to leave their land to look for work. Parting weakens a country because, with the exception of brief visits, few ever return. In Shevchenko's poem, the stage is set on the outskirts of a Ukrainian village at the crossroads of three wide roads. Three men are parting from four women, a mother, a daughter-in-law, a sister and a fiancee. Many folk songs come to mind as we imagine the scene, especially the ones that describe the parting gift an embroidered votive towel (rushnyk) or the homespun white shirt sometimes embroidered to symbolically protect the traveler from misfortune. Sometimes a handful of earth wrapped in a towel was ’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 1998 13
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