‘A Little Cloud Swims to the Sun’ by Taras Shevchenko

When I was little, I loved lying on the ground, looking at the sky, observing different shapes and forms made by the clouds. I still do it on occasion, and I’m happy to say the fascination still hasn’t faded.

On the subject of clouds, in this post I’d like to share with you a poem by Taras Shevchenko, one of the most important and beloved Ukrainian poets. Titled ‘A Little Cloud Swims to the Sun’, the poem is wonderfully evocative and melancholic. Originally written in Ukrainian and published in 1849, the version below is an English translation by Vera Rich.

If you scroll down, you’ll also find a simple vocabulary exercise intended for English language learners.

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A little cloud swims to the sun,
With all her crimson borders trailing,
And beckons to the sun to sleep 
And covers it with rosy veiling,
Cradled in the dark blue sea,
As a mother lulls her child...
Lovely to the eyes... And now,
It seems, the heart is still,
For one little hour of rest,
With God speaks quietly...
Like an enemy, the mist 
Falls upon the sea 
And the little rosy cloud,
Darkness in its wake 
The grey mist rolls and billows out,
And the silent dark
Throws its shroud upon the soul,
And you don’t know where to wander,
Longing, longing for the light,
Like small children for their mother.

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VOCABULARY EXERCISE

Find the words in the poem with the following meaning:

• to calm someone; to soothe; to send to sleep (verb)
• to feel a strong desire especially for something not likely to be attained (verb)
• a cloth used to cover a dead body; a cover (noun)
• held gently (adjective)
• to summon with a gesture; to signal; to call, invite (verb)
• a cloud of very small drops of water in the air (noun)

To check your answers, please click here.

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ADDITIONAL READING

Taras Shevchenko – Short Biography

Taras Shevchenko: Ukraine’s Liberation Hero

Why Taras Shevchenko is the Symbol of Ukraine

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COVER IMAGE

Dewang Gupta on Unsplash