Choral English Translation of the Ukrainian National Anthem by Dr. Kenneth W. Regan, 5 March, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------- Poem: Pavlo Chubynsky, 1862 Music: Mykhailo Verbytsky, 1863 The original, as codified in 2003 (from https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/602-IV#Text) Ще не вмерла України і слава, і воля, Ще нам, браття молодії, усміхнеться доля. Згинуть наші воріженьки, як роса на сонці. Запануєм і ми, браття, у своїй сторонці. Душу й тіло ми положим за нашу свободу, І покажем, що ми, браття, козацького роду. ------------------------------------------------ Transliteration and word-for-word translation (see notes) Shche ne v'merla Ukrayini, (n)i slava, (n)i volya, Shche nam, brattya molodiyi, usmikhnet’sya dolya. Z'hinut’ nashi vorizhen’ki, yak rosa na sontsi, Zapanuyem i mi, brattya, u svoyiy storontsi. Dushu y tilo mi polozhim za nashu svobodu, I pokazhem, shcho mi, brattya, kozats’kovo rodu. Yet not dead is Ukraine's glory, nor her liberty/will/self-determination; Yet on us, young brothers, shall smile fate/grain-of-truth Perish shall our enemies, as dew in the sun We will rule, and we [as] brothers [each] in his own side. Soul and body we lay down for our freedom And we will show that we, brothers, are of Cossack genus. ---------------------------------------------------------------- My lyrical translation matching the music: No lost cause is Ukraine's freedom, nor shall her glory perish! We who band in youthful ardor better fates will cherish. Shrivel shall our enemies, as dew dries in sunlight. Then we'll rule our land once-given, brethren in our own right. Souls and bodies offer we, that our children may live free, And the world will thereby see us fulfill our Cossack birthright. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Notes ----- The original poem's first line was Ще не вмерла Українa, ні слава, ні воля meaning "Not dead yet is Ukraine, nor her glory, nor her freedom/will." It imitated a Polish national exhortation, "Poland is not dead yet..." The 2003 presidential proclamation made the possessive України and changed "nor" to "and" so that it was Ukraine's glory and /volya/ that were not yet dead. In every recording I've found, the singers still sing "ni"---even on official occasions, e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b7Q0TMLcOY In the original's second line, "young brothers" is a Cossack term and replaced "Ukrainian brothers" to include those not of Ukrainian ethnicity per-se. I took Henry V's "band of brothers", substituted "band", and put a strong "you-" sound in the same place as line 1. I pluralized "fates" and used "will" to be less fatalistic. See https://www.torugg.org/anthem.html for further background here. The rhyme of the next two lines is a strong trochee in the music, almost a spondee, and I have preserved that with imperfect rhyme but strong assonance. The end of the fourth line swells up rather than keep the rest of the third line. Most translations include "our land", and I have added "once-given" to emphasize that the anthem's roots (including previous official status in 1917) pre-date the breakup of the Soviet Union. I did not want to excise all of the original's masculine nouns, and "brethren" echoes "children" in the next line. I switched the rhyme scheme of the chorus to match the music's two-measure couplet structure. The second and fourth couplets have the same music as the last two bars of the second and fourth lines of the verse, but their ends are given the spondee weights of the third and fourth lines of the verse (especially the first time when the chorus is sung twice). I chose to make the fourth couplet join the assonance of the third and fourth lines of the verse and have the first three couplets rhyme among themselves. The "see" in the third comes as the first two eighth-notes of a swell that includes "us ful-" over the bar line into the fourth couplet, "-fill our Cossack birthright." "Rodu" means kin-by-birth (genus in biology). This has replaced on my website my previous singable translation of the Russian National Anthem (2000). A poignant comparison: Both anthems have воля and слава in a line of the first verse. In Russia's case the line is Могучая воля, великая слава, and with the first word meaning "mighty", it is clear that воля means "will" in an expansive sense. There is no such sense in speaking of liberty or self-determination, which are the only meanings in Ukraine's anthem. I pray this difference can be reconciled in one common word and understanding.