Analysis of Taras Shevchenko poetry

Taras Shevchenko, a pro-Ukrainian activist at a time when Ukraine was under a hard rule in Russia concentrated his poetry towards the liberation of Ukraine. Interestingly, his poetry did not so much dwell on the cruelty of the Russian authority but more on the negligence of Ukrainians towards their homeland. In his two poems, The Moonstruck Girl and The Testament are two of his greatest masterpieces. In the two poems, Shevchenko presents themes of longing, turbulence, abandonment and his absolute loyalty to ‘HOME!’
The primary concern for these poems is longing for an object that the persona has fond memories of but does not even seem to grasp its meaning very well. In this patriotic poem, the Ukraine has been depicted as the young girl who searches endlessly for her lover. In fact, Shevchenko indicates that she waits for the Cossack, the identity of men from Ukraine. –The Moonstruck Girl line 18-22- (Shevchenko 1) Here, Shevchenko suggests that the young people of Ukraine will have to engage themselves in liberating their homeland. In The Ransacked Grave Mound Shevchenko admonishes Ukrainian sons who have abandoned their country to work abroad. These men, he claims are collaborating with the enemy to ransack Ukraine. – line 34-41- (Shevchenko 1)He uses The Testament to demonstrate the necessity of struggle and engagement of Ukrainians in the liberation of Ukraine. He calls on Ukrainians to arise and sprinkle their freedom with the old of the enemy alluding to the fact that freedom must be achieved through struggle.

Only an encounter with this freedom will satisfy the heart of the searcher.
The most tragic fact about the object of affection for the persona is the uncertainty that surrounds the possibility to meet it again. This causes immeasurable turbulence because it is not certain if the desire os is achievable or not. Throughout the poem, Shevchenko expresses the deep wound of a girl who does not know the fate of her lover. She searches for him in the night. He does not know if he is alive or dead already. Regardless, an encounter with her lover is essential to the existence of the girl. Therefore, she swears that if he is alive and in love with another girl, she will strangle her, and if he were dead, she would lie beside him in death too.
This uncertainty bears some form of disillusionment. This is a prominent theme in Shevchenko’s poems indicated by the number of shifts in the tone of the poem. Every stanza alternates between hope for the fulfillment of the searcher’s desire and despair that it will never be achieved. The roaring of the Dnipro River and the whipping of the wind is contrasted sharply with the paleness of the moonstruck girl who is even unaware of the longing in her heart because the gypsy has numbed her.- The Moonstruck Girl, Line 28- (Shevchenko 1) In this, Shevchenko expresses the needs of people who desire freedom but are not even aware. For this reason, the people continue to serve the oppressor unaware that their ultimate satisfaction is somewhere else.
Despite the entire trauma, the poet indicates that there is definitive hope for the fulfillment of the desire eventually. In The Testament, he recounts the desire to be counted among the freemen. It is in this poem that Shevchenko lays his will to be buried in his homeland Ukraine. He expresses hope that Dnipro River and the vast fields of Ukraine will wash away the blood of the enemy into the sea. When this happens, Shevchenko perceives that only then will he be counted with the free people. –The Testament ,line 9-11-(Shevchenko 1)

Works Cited
Shevchenko, Taras. “The MoonStruck Girl.” Taras Shevchenko Museum. St. Petersburg. 1837. Web. 14 Dec 2016.
Shevchenko, Taras. “The Ransacked Grave Mount.” Taras Shevchenko Museum. Berezan. 1847. Web. 14 Dec 2016.
Shevchenko, Taras. “The Testment.” Taras Shevchenko Museum. Pereyaslav. 1845. Web. 14 Dec 2016.