Tag Archives: Taras Shevchenko

On Drinking Songs as National Anthems

By Robin Bates | Published: November 1, 2022

Slovenia’s national anthem is taken from a poem by its national poet, France Preseren. They chose the peaceful stanza, not the warlike one.

By Robin Bates | Published: September 13, 2022

Ukrainian liberators discovered a nationalist poem papered over by Russian propaganda. Here I examine the poem.

By Robin Bates | Published: May 11, 2022

Russia has long sought to impose its language on its neighbors, sometimes even outlawing their indigenous lit.

By Robin Bates | Published: April 19, 2022

The war in Ukraine can partly be explained as a war between two poets, Pushkin and Shevchenko.

By Robin Bates | Published: March 30, 2022

Perhaps Russia has a sentimental attachment to Ukraine because many of its authors have loved its cities, especially Odessa.