Volodymyr Sosyura
Translated by Johr Weir
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Любіть Україну / Love your Ukraine

As you love the bright sun, Ukraine you must love,
As the waves, and the fields, and the wind.
Love her in good days, when the sky’s glad above,
And love her when the fates are unkind.

Oh, cherish Ukraine in the night, in the morn,
Hor cherry-orchard beauty hold dear,
The charm that is ageless, yet ever new-born,
And the song of her speech in year ear.

Without her we’re nothing at all, only dust
Swept about by the winds o’er the earth.
With all of your being adore her you must,
And with all of your deds her must serve.

She’s our very own, she’s the light of our lives,
Of all that we are she is a part:
She shines in our stars, in our willows she sighs,
And she beats with each pulse of our heart.

Ukraine’s in each songbird, each rose that grows wild,
In each song ever sung in our land,
In each maiden’s eyes, every smile of a child,
And each fold of the flag in our hand…

She glow in each meadow, each highway, each glade,
In each rose-tinted cloud in our sky.
In each fact’ry whistle, the Dnieper’s each wave –
There she lives and she never will die.

Through the crucible – war, our cannon aroar,
We are driving out the invaders:
That enemy boots should tread here nevermore,
That spring should again serenade us.

Young man! Take the pledge that your joys are for hes,
And your tears, and your sighs, and your pain…
For how can you love other nations on earth
If you first do not love your Ukraine!

Maiden! As you love the blue heavens above,
Love your country with ardour aflame.
For how can your lover give you hiss full love
Unless faithfully you love Ukraine!

As you toil, as you love, in peace and in strife,
Your Ukraine you must ever adore
From the depths of your heart – then deathless your life
For through her we shall live evermore.

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