ABM -- Poem (in Belarusian & English): "O Bielarus', My Briar-Rose Cherished. . ." by Uladzimir Dubouka

This File Last Updated:2006/09/23

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Vera Rich

Like Water, Like Fire

Also see Notes.

О, Беларусь, Мая Шыпшына

Уладзімір Мікалаевіч Дубоўка

О, Беларусь, мая шыпшына,
Зялёны ліст, Чырвоны цьвет,
У віхры дзікім не загінеш,
Чарнобылем не зарасьцеш.
Пялёсткамі тваімі стану,
Ha дзіды сэрца накалю,
Тваіх вачэй пад колер сталі
Праменьне яснае люблю.
Ніколі пройміе (з') дзікім віетрам
Ні раз'вівац' дзіавоцзых кос
Імкніецца да камуны с'віету
Каб радас'ц' красавала скроз'
Варожасьць шляху не зачыне,
У перашкодах дух расьце.
О, Беларусь, мая шыпшына,
Зялёны ліст, чырвоны цьвет.

O Bielarus', My Briar-Rose Cherished...

by Uladzimir Dubouka

O Bielarus', my briar-rose cherished,
O leaf of green, O flower of red,
In the wild wind you shall not perish,
Nor choke, by rank weeds overspread.
For I, myself, shall be your petals,
I’ll pierce my heart upon the pikes
Of your dear eyes, the hue of metal,
The rays I love, burnished and bright.
Never shall the wild-blowing breezes
Unloose your maiden plaits so fair,
Through the world’s striving, you strive ceaseless.
That joy may blossom everywhere.
Foes shall not cause your path to perish,
In hardship is the spirit bred,
O Bielarus', my briar-rose cherished,
O leaf of green, O flower of red.

[1926]

Notes:

". . . the 'national' flower of Byelorussian, in the symbolism of Nasha Niva, was the cornflower. Although stylized rose-patterns do appear in Byelorussian folk art (though with nothing like so great a frequency as do the several variations of the typical 'cornflower cross' pattern) this choice of symbolism seems to have been made by Dubouka and Dubouka alone. It is interesting that when the white-red-white flag of the [Belarusan] National Republic of 1918 (which was still in use in the Byelorussian SSR as late as the Byelorussian Academic Conference of 1926) was finally replaced with the new flag of Soviet Byelorussia (introduced in 1951) the colours chosen for the latter were predominantly red and green (with a white band bearing a traditional design in red at the hoist)."

"Of this choice of colours, Edgar H. Lehrman writes, 'It all seems to agree with the Byelorussian nationalists of the middle 1930s who found expression in the poem of that fine writer Uladzimier Dubouka, entitled, 'Oh, Byelorussia, My Sweetbriar.' The green is here associated with the green leaf, symbolizing the revival of life in young Byelorussia. The red is linked with the flowering of Byelorussian culture and the attainment of national self-determination.' "

"Apart from the error in date — the poem was written in the mid 1920s and by 1930 Dubouka had disappeared from the literary scene in one of the first Stalinist purges — there is nothing impossible in Lehrman’s supposition that the choice of flag was strongly influenced by this poem. If this, in fact, be the truth of the matter, it must be an event virtually unique in literary history, that a single poem has decided the design of a country’s flag."

Note to English Translation, by Vera Rich in Like Water, Like Fire (1971), p. 122.

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