Read "I Care not, Shall I See my Dear (Lyric)" by Taras Shevchenko online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I care not, shall I see my dear / Own land before I die, or no, / Nor who forgets me, buried here / In desert wastes of alien snow; / Though all forget me -- better so.
A slave from my first bitter years, / Most surely I shall die a slave / Ungraced of any kinsmen's tears; / And carry with me to my grave / Everything; and leave no trace, / No little mark to keep my place / In the dear lost Ukraina / Which is not ours, though our land.
And none shall ever understand; / No father to his son shall say: / -Kneel down, and fold your hands, and pray; / He died for our Ukraina.
I care no longer if the child / Shall pray for me, or pass me by.
One only thing I cannot bear: / To know my land, that was beguiled / Into a death-trap with a lie, / Trampled and ruined and defiled.
Ah, but I care, dear God; I care!