My captive thought has remained silent for too long
Like a bird in a cage, shut out from the world,
My song has not flown for a long time,
Tamed by grief, pierced by sorrow.
It is time my song walked into the world.
To straighten my wings, to shed my grief,
Time for my song to soar, to listen,
How the wind plays upon the sea,
Flow, my song, like an unsteady wave,
She does not ask whither she flows,
Fly, my song, like a swift seagull,
She is not afraid that she will die in the sea.
Play, my song, like the wind plays!
Howl, like that roar of the swirling around the boat!
It does not matter that the wind does not reply,
The sound of the waves charms the future!
Lesja Ukrainka is an important literary figure of Ukraine. Her language is extremely musical and well-suited to song. She was an accomplished musician, and would have become a concert pianist, had she not suffered from tuberculosis of the bone throughout her life. Despite the fact that she was a female, she was very well-educated and was able to read and translate many languages. She translated works by many great foreign authors into Ukrainian. She was arrested for this activity for a brief period and was under surveillance for the remainder of her life.
The poem “My Captive Thought” was written during the Russian Revolution, and Stepovyi uses music to transform her poetry into a political declaration of emancipation and freedom in his song. There is still an eerie undertone present in the verses, and the ending remains sounding uncertain, reflecting the political feeling of the time.
